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The last couple of days marked the Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr (it depends on moon sightings so it's different in Mecca than, say, New York City), which celebrates the end of the fasting month known as Ramadan. So I decided to make some Arab treats called qatayef. This dessert is not unique to Qatar; in fact, it's eaten all over the Middle East--the main recipe I used is from an Egyptian. However, it's hard to find food that is unique to Qatar. It's a small peninsula jutting off of Saudi Arabia into the Persian Gulf. As such, it's very much influenced by other Arab countries surrounding it.

Qatayef is actually eaten throughout Ramadan, sold by street vendors and made at home. Their crescent moon shape represents Islam as a whole and the crescent moon that marks the beginning of Ramadan.

It starts with a batter. It's basically a pancake batter--flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, water--with the addition of a little bit of yeast. The yeast makes the texture a little springier and the flavor a little deeper.

While the batter rested, I prepared the fillings. I did two separate fillings. The first is a simple spiced walnut mixture. I used to not be a fan of nuts at all, but let me tell you--as I got older I grew to appreciate a good roasted walnut. The smell of walnuts toasting in the oven is just heavenly. I would honestly rub them on my skin and wear it as a fragrance but I think it would just make me hungry all the time.

I pulsed the walnuts in the food processor then mixed them with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and a bit of sugar.

The second filling is a pistachio and cheese filling. Traditionally, akkawi cheese would be used but good luck finding that in a Vermont grocery store. So instead, I combined ricotta with a little bit of feta. Now, these pistachios. I don't even like pistachios, but I knew I would have to make something with them since they're so commonly used in Middle Eastern cooking and baking. It didn't help that I also had to shell each one before grinding them all up.

Once the batter had rested for about 45 minutes to an hour, it was time to start cooking them. It's basically like making small pancakes but they only cook on one side. They bubble up all nice and then when they dry out on top you transfer them to a sheet or plate to cool.

Once they are completely cooled they can be filled. The pistachio filling is on top and the walnut filling on the bottom.

Each filled pancake is then folded in half and sealed by simply pinching the edges together. Since they are half cooked and contained yeast, it was much easier than I anticipated to get them to stick together. The only thing to watch out for is cracks forming in the crease due to over-stuffing them.

The next step is frying these bad boys up. After frying they had a delicious crispy texture.

I could have gone darker with these had I not wanted to just sit down.

Once they're cool enough to handle but still hot, they go for a dip in syrup. I decided to make a rose water simple syrup--very delicately flavored with just a couple drops because if there's one thing I've learned from watching Great British Bake Off, it's that Mary Berry will call you out if your food tastes like soap.

Once they had their bath, I dipped the ends in either pistachios or walnuts. It was pretty difficult to get them to stick because my syrup wasn't quite as thick as I would have liked it to be.

These were super delicious--even better still warm and crispy but still good the next day. I brought some into work and that got rave reviews. The yeasted pancake dough with the syrup reminded me a bit of the Indian dessert gulab jamun, though not as sweet. Kind of the same concept, just filled. Even as a non-pistachio lover (I've tried many times to like them!) I have to say that they were really good. Luckily the pistachio wasn't the star of the show. However, I think the walnut ones were my favorite.

Recipes Used: Classic Qatayef // How to make Qatayef