Making Yufka

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For the longest time I have wanted to try learning and making yufka (English: Phyllo). It's my 5 o'clock tea time weakness with some salty cheese, minced meat, spinach, potatoes or other veggies inside a yufka. I really wanted to know if it would be that much more difficult like making bread? Speaking myself, I'm pretty good at making pancakes and crépes without burning them but I always dreamed of to make our turkish yufka...


Although our weather is still going perfect, I know it will end before too long. While it is really coming flour weather here soon, why not I said myself.

So I spent my Sunday late evening taking a class from my mother. Personally I do not really eat whites too much but this way I'd like to please the gatherings for our Sunday dinner and my tea+coffee times:)

Before starting the process I'm required to make ready a few items by her:

Needed for...

1/2 glass water
2 eggs
2 glasses flour -above photo-
6 and 1/2 spoons butter or margarine
salt

After making a dough by mixing well and kneading these ingredients, sprinkle the dough with flour. Let it stand for 15-min as covered with a clean cloth.

Finished the waiting period? Good. Now the most hard, quick and talent required second part starts:

with a rolling pin roll the dough to a thickness of 2cm. Spread 3-spoons of softened butter. Cut the dough into 3 or 5 pieces, placing one on top of the other. Roll the 3 pieces again. Spread on the remaining butter. Cut again into 3 pieces and place one on the other. Knead well for a few minutes. Shape into a ball. Divide the dough into pieces, shall be a little bigger than the size of my tennis ball:)

ready to roll out each of these balls to obtain a "yufka" as seen above -very thin sheets of dough. Using the rolling pin.

wrap up, wrap it up drizzling some flour on...

widen it until reach a 60cm in diameter...

repeat the steps above...


main duty is to have real thin layers as my mother did! Question is what I could make using this phyllo?


Once I am able to make successfully thin sheets, then the funny part of the process begins: they are layered, folded in various shapes as you like before being filled with cheese or meat, and baked or fried.

Giving examples:

Think about börek (boureko) and baklava! Both are syrup soaked pastries made with phyllo dough are very well-known turkish favorites. They are popular throughout the former Ottoman Empire.

Let me share my opinion here that there's nothing quite like a phyllo dough! We know how to shop for a commercially sold phyllo but making a homemade dough, roll it out with a rolling pin and finally to fond it to create the delicious sweet and savory creations for our Turkish cuisine is so famous!

I know it requires great skill and patience unless you have thin sheets of dough. My mother who accomplishes this delicate task using her rolling pin became the most sought-out person in her circle of friends as well as the family. One day me too..

In the end, I'm so pleased that I took some of my time and learned how to make it under her guidance. I will certainly be making this again and again because I'm still not so good at making it thin. As said, practice makes the perfect:)

If you are interested in healthy home cooking, please see Jane's to reach a series of worldwide recipes and funny stories. Remember today we happily share one more new Corner View theme that's about "favorite dish"