Ingredients:
Turkey’s best-known pastry and most popular street food is the simit, a ring of sesame seeds that is soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. In the recipe below, I’ve slightly modified the ingredients because I wanted to try out what it’s like to put sesame seeds in three different forms in this pastry.
Preparation:
Stir 1 tsp yeast into 3 dl of warm water and let stand for a few minutes. In the meantime, mix the two types of flour and the salt, then slowly add the water, stirring continuously.
Start kneading the dough, but don’t be alarmed if it doesn’t come together after 1-2 minutes, you need to knead continuously for at least 8-10 minutes to get a non-sticky, soft but firm dough. Then place in a bowl, cover and leave to rise for a good half hour.
In a dry frying pan over medium heat, to avoid burning, toast the sesame seeds until golden brown! Mix the pekmez with 3 tbsp water and 1 tbsp flour.
Once the dough has risen, divide it into 12 equal parts (each ball will be about 60 g). First roll out two equal balls, about 35-40 cm long (do not flour the surface you are rolling them on). Flatten one of them out a little and grease it with sesame butter. Place the two dough rollers next to each other, press the ends together, then grab the two ends and start rolling in opposite directions, so that the two rollers are twisted together and form a nice braid. Now clamp the two ends of the braid together to make a ring shape. Repeat this with the other dough balls, so that you end up with a total of 6 smoothies.
Next, roll the smoothies in the pecan mixture, then in the toasted sesame seeds and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Use your fingers to flatten the flatbreads a little, so they don’t rise into a big puff and don’t open up so much along the plait.
Preheat the oven to 230°C and place a heatproof dish full of water in the bottom of the oven. The steaming water will also help to make the pastry even crispier. Bake the pastries for about 15-20 minutes until the outside is nice and golden brown and crispy. And if you don’t have enough sesame seeds, dip the freshly baked rings in Grapoila sesame seed oil! Heavenly 🙂
Recipe by Nar Gourmet.
