What is katayef or qatayef

Katayef is a kind of sweet pancake popular in all middle eastern countries. Generally, katayef is served especially during the holy month of Ramadan. It is usually made out of flour, semolina, baking powder, water or milk, yeast, and sometimes sugar is added. The result of the batter is poured into a round hot plate appears similar to pancakes, except only one side is cooked, then stuffed and folded. The speciality of these pancakes is that they are looking porous. Generally, this katayef or pancakes are stuffed with cream cheese or hung curd and some crushed pistachios. A special sugar syrup, flavoured with orange blossom water is served with this katayef. Sometimes this katayef is also served without any stuffing. They can simply be served like other pancakes, with jam or butter and you can have them as breakfast.

Recipe

Preparation time: 90 min(including rest time)

Cooking time: 1 min/katayef

Difficulty level: easy

Serves: 20 katayef

Ingredients

• 1 cup All-purpose flour or Maida
• 1 cup Semolina
• 2 teaspoon Baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Instant Yeast
• 2 teaspoon Sugar
• 1 cup Warm Water
• 1 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup Yoghurt (beaten)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Butter to grease the pan
• For stuffing
• 250 grams of Cream cheese
• Icing sugar if required
• 1 tablespoon Orange blossom syrup(optional)
• Ground Pistachio as required
• For sugar syrup
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• Few drops of Lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Rose water
• 1 teaspoon Orange blossom water(optional)

Steps

Combine 1 cup of warm water, 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of yeast in a cup and set aside to broom.

Take a blender jar and add flour, semolina, salt and baking powder. Combine with a spatula.

When the yeast mixture blooms add to the dry mixture.

Also add the beaten yoghurt and milk.

Blend all the ingredients nicely to make a thick batter.

Keep the batter aside for an hour. Because of yeast the batter will be very frothy.

In the meantime make the sugar syrup by boiling sugar, water and other ingredients as mentioned above.

Just cook the syrup until the sugar dissolves completely. It should be thin flavorful syrup.

Make the stuffing by combining hung curd/cream cheese with icing sugar(optional), orange blossom water (optional) and rose water.

Heat a nonstick pan, grease with little butter and pour 1 tablespoon of batter in the centre.

The surface of the katayef should be perforated as shown in the picture. This texture is necessary to make katayef.

If bubbles will not occur, then adjust the batter by adding more water(one tablespoon at a time) to make the batter thin.

Cook only one side of the katayef till the bottom gets slightly golden brown. It will take abot a minute to cook the katayef. Don’t overcook it.

Transfer to a damp cloth and cover it with the cloth to prevent the katayef from drying out.

To make the shape take one warm(it is necessary to stuff and fold them when they are warm to touch) katayef, pinch the edges together like the picture remaining one side open.

Stuff 1 tablespoon of the prepared cream cheese filling and sprinkle ground pistachio.

Keep in a serving plate. Repeat the process with other pancakes or katayef. It is better if make 3-4 katayef at a time, then fold and stuff them. After that again go back to make the pancakes. If you make all the pancakes and then start stuffing them, they might not fold nicely or stick together.

Like the above-mentioned process makes all the pancakes. Note that don’t stuff the katayef when they are very hot. It may melt the cheese and the stuffing will be messy. As mentioned above the pancakes should be warm at the time of stuffing.

Serve this katayef accompanied by sugar syrup.