Shekerbura: a recipe for Azerbaijani cuisine

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Surely you have already heard about the famous Azerbaijani delicacy called shekerbura. The recipe for this sweet is spread almost all over the world, let's try and we will master it. Everything you need for this treat, you can easily buy at any grocery store, and perhaps even find it in your own refrigerator. We won't need any exotic ingredients to make shekerbura.

Of course, the cooking technology has some peculiarities. This is not to say that the level of difficulty is zero, some skills will be needed. But if you know how to work with dough and have sculpted dumplings at least once in your life, believe me, shekerbura will also succumb to you. The recipe with a photo step by step, which we will present below, will surely help you get rid of your insecurities and get down to business sooner.

Origin and distribution of the recipe

Researchers of national dishes of different nations claim that this delicacy appeared in Iran. Since ancient times, it has been prepared and served at the table on the holiday of the spring equinox. Light pies in the shape of a growing moon were associated with the night sky. Like hundreds of years ago, Iranians celebrate this holiday (Novruz) today, serving the same delicacy to the table.

Over time, the treat spread throughout the Middle East. But, surprisingly, the world knows shekerbura as an Azerbaijani national dish. The inhabitants of this country are so fond of walnut pies in crispy waffle dough that not a single holiday in Azerbaijan can do without this dish! Shekerbura flaunts at any solemn feast.

Recipe Azerbaijani cuisine offers almost the same one used in ancient Iran. We will try to bring it to life.

Shakerbura Ingredients

It is unlikely that Azerbaijani women use measuring utensils and kitchen scales when preparing a dish known to every girl from an early age. But since we are just learning, we will use the exact dosages and then we will definitely get a real shekerbura.

The recipe involves the use of the following components:

• flour - 400 g;
• yeast - 20 g;
• sour cream or heavy homemade cream - 2 tbsp. l.;
• milk - 100 ml;
• eggs - 5 pcs;
• melted butter - 100g;
• crushed nut kernels - 1 tbsp;
• sugar - 1 tbsp
• vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon - optional, a small pinch each.

Most often walnuts are used to make shakerbura. The kernels should, as far as possible, be freed from films, and if necessary, calcined in a dry frying pan. Suitable for this treatalso hazelnut, cashew and almond. Shekerbura is not made from peanuts.

How to make dough

Properly made dough is a guarantee that you will get a delicate, but at the same time a little crispy shekerbura. A recipe with a photo will help you imagine how the process is going on.

Dissolve dry yeast in warmed milk and leave for a while in a warm place. To make the process start faster, you can add a small pinch of sugar.

Sift the flour at this time. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, chop with a fork. Add hot oil to them, stir again. Pour in cream (or sour cream) and milk with yeast. Turn the mixture into a completely homogeneous mass with a mixer or whisk and pour into the prepared container with flour.

Some Eastern housewives knead the dough directly with their hands. You can do as you like: fork, spoon, whisk and even an electric dough mixer. In any case, you will get a shekerbura. The recipe is simple, reliable and tested by many generations, so there is no doubt about the result. The main thing is not to forget to let the finished dough rest for an hour under a waffle towel.

Nut stuffing for shekerbura

In the meantime, the dough is gaining strength, let's take care of the filling. Cut the nuts with a knife, measure them with a measuring cup and add exactly the same amount of sugar.

That's it! It remains only to mix well.

Preparation for modeling

At this stage, you can start preheating the oven. Divide the dough into pieces the size of small peaches, count and estimate how many pies you get. It is better to lay out shekerbura immediately on baking sheets lined with parchment, and not on the table. Make sure that you have everything you need at hand while sculpting.

Formation

Pay attention to what the Azerbaijani shekerbura looks like. The recipe with the photo shows that the sides of the pies are covered with an unusual pattern. It is applied to formed products.

Roll each ball of dough into a flat cake and lay on one edge about one dessert spoonful of filling. Pinch the edges with a pigtail, as if sculpting a dumpling. The figured edge is an important detail, as necessary as the pattern.

Special tool

In Azerbaijan and many other countries of Central Asia, you can easily find on sale special tweezers with spikes on the edges, which are designed to apply a pattern on shekerbura. In many families, this instrument is inherited through many generations.

If you don't have anything similar to these tweezers in your kitchen, you'll have to experiment by forming folds with your fingers and applying creases with a fork. Let your imagination run wild and you're sure to get great results.

Baking in the oven

Shekerbura should not be golden-ruddy. This baking in the oven is only dried, while remaining light. Therefore, place the baking sheet on the bottom position of the preheated oven and cook for about 15 minutes. About being ready for youwill inform the aroma of nutty pastries that has spread throughout the house.

Serving Rules

Shekerbura, whose recipe came from the East, is often served in the company of other traditional sweets, such as badambur and baklava. They eat these treats, holding in their hands. Varietal tea, fragrant brewed coffee, compote or juice are ideal as supplements. But it is not customary to serve this treat with alcohol.