Authentic Azerbaijan’s Shekerbura and Pakhlava Recipes
The arrival of March now shows that Spring is approaching. The weather is slowly getting warmer, the trees are blooming, and colorful flowers are starting to appear. We can call it the awakening of nature. In all countries, Spring is loved by many people and even greeted with special joy and holidays in some countries. One of these countries is Azerbaijan. To celebrate the arrival of Spring, they celebrate Novruz Holiday.
By Nargiz Mammadzada
Novruz marks the first day of Spring and is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually occurs on March 21. Novruz is a symbol of nature’s rebirth and fertility.
Celebrating Novruz is greeting a new year - the first day of Spring. On the basis of Novruz's beliefs stand the resurrection of four elements that give life to people and nature. These elements are water, fire, wind (air), and soil (earth). Therefore, Novruz festivities begin to hold four weeks before March 21. Every Tuesday of that month was associated with one element of nature. The final four Tuesdays of Winter (which typically begin on the last Tuesday of February) leading up to Novruz are observed as "Charshanba" holidays in Azerbaijan.
The common thing that unites all these Charsanbas and the holiday is that during the holiday, spring cleaning should be done at home, family elders should be visited, and people should reconcile. It is important to have a khoncha on the table. A khoncha usually consists of different nuts. Green semeni (green sprouting wheat) should be placed in the middle of the khoncha. Decorating the semeni with flowers or other accessories depends entirely on the wishes of the people. Colorfully painted eggs and a lit candle for each family member are placed around the khoncha. The holiday table is decorated in all houses. There should be various dishes on the table. However, the most popular part of the holiday is its sweets. Pakhlava, shekerbura, sheker chorek, shorgoghal, and badambura are the most popular and most cooked sweets on this holiday.
And we are going to talk about shekerbura and pakhlava more and share recipes and secrets for making these delicious sweets.
Although the main ingredients of shekerbura and pakhlava are the same, some other ingredients may be added or replaced in different regions of Azerbaijan. The recipe that I am going to give is a recipe that has been in our family for generations and that my mother and aunts use when cooking every Novruz holiday. I want to send special thanks to my mom and aunts for sharing this recipe and helping me to write my article.
Shekerbura (for 40-45 pieces)
Ingredients for the Dough
750-800 grams of flour
3 egg yolks
200 grams of butter
250 grams of yogurt
200 grams of sour cream
1 tablespoon of sugar
½ teaspoon of yeast
1 teaspoon of Curcuma
a pinch of salt
For filling:
350 grams of sugar
350 grams of hazelnuts
7-8 cardamom
A few drops of edible rose water
Instructions
For the Dough
First, you need to soften 200 grams of butter and melt
Then add all the ingredients listed for the dough except flour to a bowl
Slowly start adding 750-800 grams of flour. Here it is important not to add all the flour at once. You can add 200 grams of flour each time, mix a little, and then continue by adding another 200 grams. Because looking at the consistency of the dough, you need to get a hard dough that is not too sticky
After the dough is well shaped, put it aside to rest for 15-20 minutes and prepare the filling for shekerburas.
For the Filling
First, clean 7-8 cardamoms depending on their size
Then add 350 grams of hazelnuts and grind them into powder together with cardamoms
Then add 350 grams of sugar to that mixture and mix
After mixing all the ingredients, add a few drops of rose water. The main goal here is that the mixture is not completely powdery and to make it aromatic
Preparing and Cooking
Finally, take the prepared dough and form palm-sized balls. To do this, first cut 10-15 pieces of the same size. Then make small balls, by rolling in your hands.
Stretch those balls with a rolling pin again to the size of your palm
Put the prepared filling in the middle of the opened dough
Tie the edges as if making a braid
Shekerburas are usually decorated with special tweezers for food to make it look more beautiful
After about 10 pieces are ready (depending on the size and size of your baking tray), bake them at 100 degrees Celsius (in “Bottom Heat Only” mode because the top of the shekerburas should never be browned). In the meantime, you should open it from time to time and check if the bottom is lightly browned. You can take it out of the oven after the bottom of the shekerbura is browned and the top is fully cooked. The key here is to let it cook slowly and be patient.
And voila! Your Azerbaijani shekerburas are ready. If you want to cook not 40-45, but 80-120 pieces, it will be enough to prepare them by multiplying the given ingredients by 2 or 3 times.
Pakhlava (for 40-45 pieces)
Ingredients for the Dough
1 kilogram of flour
3 egg yolks
200 grams of butter
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 cup (200 ml) yogurt
200 grams of sour cream
½ teaspoon of yeast
Ingredients for the Filling
500 grams of walnuts
250 grams of hazelnuts
750 grams of sugar
1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
For spreading between layers:
500 grams of melted butter
For the top:
1 packet of saffron
20 almonds
White poppy seeds (if available)
For the syrup:
200 grams of sugar
½ glass of water
½ glass of rose water
Instructions
For the Dough
First, you need to soften 200 grams of butter and melt
Then add all the ingredients listed for the dough except flour to a bowl
Slowly start adding 1 kilogram of flour and shape the dough
After the dough is well shaped, put it aside and prepare your filling
For the Filling
Add 500 grams of walnuts and 250 grams of hazelnuts and grind them into powder together with coriander seeds.
Then add 750 grams of sugar to that mixture and mix again. Make sure that everything is very well mixed together.
Divide this prepared mixture into 6 equal parts.
For the Syrup
Turn on the gas and add 200 grams of sugar to a bowl placed on the gas.
Add half a glass of water and half a glass of rose water.
Start mixing slowly. When it starts to boil, you will see huge bubbles on the top. This means that the syrup is almost ready. To check, take a little with the help of a spoon and test the stickiness with your finger.
For the Top
Brew one packet of saffron in hot water and wait for the color to come out while you finish your other work.
Take about 20 almonds and peel them. To make it easier, you can pour them into boiling water and wait a while. After that, the shells will come out in a few seconds in an easier form.
One packet of white poppy seeds should be enough as decoration.
Preparing and Cooking
Finally, take the prepared dough and cut it into 9 balls. 4 of these balls must be large, and the remaining 5 must be small.
Then, you take your baking tray and brush it with the melted butter (Size of our baking tray: length 37 cm, width 30 cm, height 5-6 cm)
Stretch one of the four big balls with a rolling pin and place them in your baking tray. Then stretch the second one and put it on top of each other without spreading melted butter. And the reason these balls are bigger than the others is that we want these layers to be thicker when we stretch them with a rolling pin. This is an important step so that the bottom of the pakhlava is strong and the pakhlavas do not fall apart.
After that, the main work begins. Apply melted butter with a brush on top of the two layers of dough that you put on top of each other. Take the first part of the mixture you prepared as a filling and pour the first part (out of six) here. Spread that mixture evenly all around. Then stretch one of the five small balls with a rolling pin. Put that thin layer you stretched on top of the others. The reason these balls are small is that we want to get very thin and delicate layers when stretching them with a rolling pin. Then repeat the process. Spreading melted butter, spreading mixture, adding a thin layer - the process should be repeated six times in this pattern until the five small balls and mixture that you divide into six parts are finished.
Once the whole mixture is finished and you have no thin layer left to apply on top, the last step remains. Stretch the third and fourth large balls with a rolling pin and place them on top of the other layers for the finishing touch. As with the bottom two layers, melted butter should not be applied between these top two layers.This is an important step so that the top of the pakhlavas is also strong and the pakhlava does not fall apart.
After the whole process is over, cut the dough scraps on the edges to make it look neat.
Then it should be cut into the form of pakhlava. For this, first cut long vertical lines. Then cut diagonal lines.
The color of the saffron you just brewed will have already come out in the water. Apply that water to the top of the pakhlavas with the help of a brush.
Cut the previously mentioned peeled almonds in half and divide those halved parts in half again. After giving the crescent shape, place it in the middle of the pakhlavas. Some people prefer to put walnuts and some people prefer hazelnuts. We prefer almond because we think it looks more beautiful, and elegant.
If you want to make it even more beautiful, you can also put some saffron stems on the edges. At the same time, a little white poppy is poured on the top and bottom of the pakhlavas. No matter how much effort these details require, we can guarantee that the final result will look amazing.
After all these processes are finished, bake the pakhlavas at 100 degrees Celsius. They have a similar process to shekerburas. You should also bake them in “Bottom Heat Only” mode.
On the eve of its cooking, after 15 minutes, after the dough starts to cook a little, take out the pakhlavas and go over the places you cut before. This is so that the cut places are more accurate and the pakhlavas can be easily removed from the baking tray in that form. After cutting, all the remaining melted butter should be poured over the pakhlavas. But you have to be careful here. Melted butter should be poured neatly on top of the horizontal and diagonal cuts.
In the meantime, you should open the oven from time to time and check if the bottom is lightly browned. You can take it out of the oven after the bottom of the pakhlava is browned and the top is fully cooked. The key here is to let it cook slowly and be patient.
After the pakhlava is completely cooked, take it out and pour the prepared syrup over it. This is a crucial step to make pakhlavas tastier, more aromatic, and even brighter. After that, the pakhlavas should be put in the oven for another 5 minutes. This is so that the syrup stays perfectly on top.
After 5 minutes, remove the pakhlavas from the oven and leave them to cool. After it cools down a bit, you can take it out in a neat shape and put it on the plates or around the khoncha you have prepared. Your sweet, tasty, and great-looking pakhlavas are ready!
Bon Appétit or as we say in Azerbaijani “Nuş olsun”!
