Kleacha (Eid Celebration Date Filled Pastry)

As the Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting comes to an end the Eid celebrations begin.

Usually the last week of the month is filled with holiday baking, but many people begin serious Eid preps around the last ten days, organizing their houses, decorating, buying gifts and lots of baking and menu planning!

Kleacha is a traditional cookie, it has a date filling (and some filled with nuts and such) and it's very popular in Iraq, Kurdistan and other parts of the Arab world. Ma'moul or Ka'k is a similar but more flakey pastry that also has a filling and then formed in an intricate mould and dusted with powder sugar, recipes vary by country and region.

What I remember about Kleacha is that it's a Eid staple. Around Eid time people bake big batches of them and store them away. Most of the time there is too much to bake for a conventional home oven so us kids would borrow some trays and take them to the bread baker down the street or in the local neighbourhood market and ask him to bake them for us in his big oven.
Mother would give us a small dish of beaten egg and we'd egg wash the cookies at the baker's before he bakes large batches at a time.

My sister and I would hang out there supervising until they were done.

On Eid when guests pop in for greetings and short visits to exchange gifts you serve them some kleacha along with tea or coffee, candies and roasted nuts.

The cookies also keep well and can be frozen and defrosted when needed.

Everyone has their own recipe, but this is my mother's recipe, some people like the hint of spices and some omit it as well as the sesame seeds in the dough.

It's not a complex recipe at all, and it's just a matter of prepping the fillings and dough beforehand.

Date Cookies (kleacha)


Dough ingredients:

6 cups flour

1 tsp salt

Optional ingredients:

1/3 cup sesame seeds (roasted/toasted)
1 tsp cinnamon ground

1/2 tsp all spice

Mix the above in a big bowl. Add in and mix until it is resembling crumbs:

1 1/4 cups oil (or instead 3/4 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup oil)

In a small bowl proof the yeast:

1 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water

When foamy in 5 mins or so mix a little warm milk (below ingredient) into it and dump the yeasty mixture it into the dough.

Begin adding the warm milk below little by little until it looks like a good dough.

1 1/2 - 2 cups warm milk

Allow the dough to rise for two hours.

Filling ingredients:

Date paste or pitted whole dates from the bulk store (a large bag)

Walnuts, chopped up, mixed with some sugar to sweeten

Shredded coconut, mixed with sugar to sweeten

Prepare date filling by putting 4 cups pitted dates into a pot add 1/8 cup oil, 1 cup water and 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional) then bring to a boil until it turns into a soft sticky paste. Set aside to cool flattened out on a plate.

Roll dough into a thin layer (about 1/8 inch) into a big square.

Spread the date mixture all over.

Roll it up like a cinnamon roll, but tightly and slice 1 inch pieces.

Lay them on the tray, the same way they were sliced (unlike cinnamon rolls which are laying on their sides).

Wipe the tops with beated egg then bake until browned on preheated 375 Oven until dough is cooked and they are golden brown.

Shfta - Kurdish meat patties

This is Shfta, a Kurdish meat patties that is popular all throughout Kurdistan and in Kurdish homes around the world.

It is perfect picnic food and for sandwiches! I remember discovering it the first time when a kid in my class brought it to a school picnic, then later I identified it from time to time wrapped in a bread as packed lunch by kids at school.

After we learned what it was my mother (who is not Kurdish) made it for us at home frequently, sometimes she would soak old bread in milk and then squeeze out the excess liquid and mix that into a nice dough with the meat, I believe there is a German recipe that is similar and her mum used to make it that way.

I used to think this recipe was a good poor man's type of dish because you could stretch the meat a bit between the family members but I don't know if that's true or not.



Shfta:

- 1.5 lb Ground meat (I think it's usually beef but it could be whatever you like)

- 1 small finely chopped onion

- 2 medium cloves chopped garlic
- 1 small bunch chopped celery leaves (the good green leaves of the celery is a traditional ingredient!)

- 1 small bunch chopped parsley (not sure if it's a traditional ingredient but I love it!)

- Salt & black pepper

- Pinch of cumin

- 1-2 tbsp tomato paste

- Few tbsps flour (or you could use a mashed boiled potato! And a bit of flour to keep it together)

- Oil for frying

Knead the meat with all the chopped vegetables until it's like a dough, add the flour and knead, when you're able to form a patty and it sticks and does not fall apart then you're good to go.

Form little patties, usually they are longish and not thick like burgers but flat.

Begin frying them in batches flipping in the oil until browned all over and crispy.

Enjoy with lots of fresh greens, tomatoes and fresh bread.