Warbat is made of crunchy layers of phyllo pastry filled with a creamy custard and baked until golden. Then Warbat is drenched in sweet sugar syrup which is sometimes flavored with rose water or orange blossom water. Finally Warbat is topped with crushed pistachios. It is a must try.

To know how to make Warbat bil eshta at home please watch this video:

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 cup milk
• 6 tbsp cornflour
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 300 ml thickened or double cream
• 1 pack phyllo pastry
• 1 cup melted ghee “use as needed only”
• sugar syrup
• crushed pistachios for decoration

Tips:

• Make sure that the phyllo pastry is kept at room temp. before use. Make sure to follow the pack’s instructions.
• Brushing each layer of the phyllo pastry with the melted ghee will help it crisp up and become golden once baked.
• Prepare the filling before hand so that it has enough time to cool completely before use.
• When adding the sugar syrup make sure it is at room temp. and the warbat is hot.

You can adjust the recipe by adding chopped fresh thyme leaves or adding hot sauce or chillies.

Spinach has many proven health benefits. You can read this article about 34 science backed health benefits to Spinach written by Helen Nichols for Well-Being Secretes.

Usually we eat these spinach triangles with yoghurt. And my go to yoghurt is the one I make at home as it is lighter and tangier than your average store bought yoghurt.

To know how to make the Palestinian spinach triangles please watch this video:

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

• 6 cups AP flour
• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm milk
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 tsp dried instant yeast
• 1 tbsp salt

For the Filling:

1 kilo of washed and chopped spinach leaves

1 medium size onion finely diced

3 tbls Sumac or to taste

1 tbls salt or to taste

2 tbls olive oil or to taste

juice of one lemon

Tips:

• Make sure that the milk and water are at around 40 C.
• Make sure to knead the dough long enough, not less than 10 mins
• Leave the dough to prove in a warm place until double in size for about 2 hours.
• Once you chop your spinach leaves add a bit of salt and let stand for 1 hour so extra juices come out.
• Drain the spinach very well before making the filling.
• Salt and sumac are to taste so feel free to adjust the recipe to your own liking.
• You can add chilli paste or chilli powder if you like some heat.
• Bake the triangles in a preheated oven at 200-220 C for 15-20 mins or until golden.
• Once they are done you can brush them with a bit of olive oil and cover them with a tea towel until serving.
• You can buy the sumac from international or continental supermarkets or sometimes in healthy food section of your supermarket.

Even preparing the ma’amoul is a ritual in itself. Most of the family members come together to prepare it and sometimes neighbors come together where each one prepare her own ma’amoul while chatting and laughing with her friends.

Traditionally ma’amoul is made using semolina and ghee but there are a lot of variation to these two. As for the filling, the most widely spread is using dates paste “Ajweh”. But you can find it filled with nuts mainly walnuts or pistachios. Each one of those have its own distinct mould style to make it easy for people to identity which is which once they are baked.

To know how to make these scrumptious melt in your mouth delights watch the following video:

Ingredients:

– For the dough

• 2 kilos semolina
• 1 cup flour
• 2/3 cup powdered milk
• 2/3 sugar
• 1 tsp mehlap
• 2 tsp ground aniseeds
• 2 tsp ground fennel seeds
• 650 gram melted butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp instant dried yeast
• 3 cups lukewarm water

– For dates filling

• 1 kilo dates paste ** See Tips
• 1/4 cup metled ghee
• 2 tsp ground aniseeds
• 2 tsp ground fennel seeds

– For the walnuts filling

• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp honey
• a bit of water ** See Tips

– For the pistachios filling

• 1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp rose water

Tips:

• You can use fine or coarse semolina or a mix of both. I’ve used 1 1/2 kilo of the fine semolina and 1/2 kilo of the coarse.
• You can use melted butter or melted ghee or mix of both. You can use less of these and add oil too. But it is important the majority is of ghee or butter rather than oil.
• Make sure you rub the dry ingredients with butter long enough as this will enhance the texture of the final product. You should leave that for a whole day.
• The amount of water used in the dough might vary according to the semolina so it is best o add the water gradually while kneading the dough until it comes together.
• Leave the dough to rest for an hour in a warm place.
• Dates paste is found in international or middle eastern supermarkets. Alternatively you can make yours by ground soft dates in a food processor until it become a paste.
• You can replace ghee in the dates filling with butter or olive oil.
• When adding water to the walnuts filling just add enough to make it come together.
• Bake the ma’amoul in a preheated oven at 200 C until they become golden.
• Before serving you can dust ma’amoul with icing sugar.

You can bake those during Ramadan and have them as a light snack.

To know how to make these bagels please watch the video:

Ingredients:

• 500 grams AP flour
• 200 ml lukewarm milk
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 60 grams melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp instant dried yeast
• 1 tsp ground aniseeds
• 300 grams dates paste
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground aniseeds
• 1 tsp ground fennel seeds

Tips:

• Dates paste can be purchased ready at Middle Eastern stores or you can make your own at home by deseeding dates and then ground them in a food process.
• You can replace olive oil with any other oil or even melted butter or ghee.
• When kneading the dough make sure to do that for 10-15 mins. You want the dough to become elastic and smooth.
• Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until it doubles in size between 1-2 hours.
• Make sure you oil the surface and the rolling pin before working with the dough so as it won’t stick.
• You make the bagels as shown int he video and making sure that the ring is wide enough as it will still rise and close down a bit.
• Leave the bagels to rest for 1 hour.
• Brush the surface of bagels with milk or egg wash if you want a shinier finish.
• Bake the bagels in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 mins or until golden.