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“The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand and Vilna to the Present Day”

by Claudia Roden

pp163-164
Hamantashen

Makes about 20
At Purim (page 32), to celebrate the demise of the hated Haman, the Sephardim make pastries in the
shape of his ears and the Ashkenazim make pastries in the shape of his three-cornered hat. There are
different types of dough, including a yeast dough. This biscuity one is meltingly delicious. There
are various fillings. The most traditional and most popular is poppy-seed one. Another is with
prunes.

For the dough


250g (90oz) plain flour
a pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 or 3 drops vanilla essence
150g (50oz) unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
2-3 teaspoons milk, if necessary
1 egg, lightly beaten, to glaze

For the mohn (poppy seed) filling


150g (50oz) poppy seeds
175ml (6fl oz) milk
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons raisins
grated zest 1 of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a bowl, mix flour with the salt, sugar and vanilla essence. Cut the butter in pieces and rub it into
the flour. Mix in the egg yolk and press into a soft ball. Work very briefly, adding a little milk if
necessary to bind it. Wrap in cling-film and cool in the refrigerator.

For the filling, put the poppy seeds in a pan with milk and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until
thick. Add the honey, sugar, raisins and butter and cook 5 minutes more. Add the lemon zest and
juice and the butter and mix well. Let it cool.

Divide the 4 pieces for easier handling. Roll out each piece on a floured surface with a floured
rolling pin until it is 3mm (1/8 inch) thick. Cut into 7.5cm (3 inch) rounds with a pastry cutter. Take
the scraps, roll out again and cut in to rounds. (Another way is to take a lump of dough a bit bigger
than a walnut and to flatten the dough by pressing it in the palm of your hand.) Put a heaped
teaspoon of filling in the centre of each round. Lift up the edges on 3 sides and fold over the filling
to form a triangular pyramid, pinching the sides together to seal them but leaving the top open.

Arrange on a greased tray and brush with beaten egg. Bake in a preheated 375 degree Fahrenheit /
190 degree Celsius / gas 5 oven for 15 – 20 minutes, or until golden. Do not try to remove the
pastries from the tray while they are hot, or they will crumble. Let them cool and lift them very
carefully off with a spatula, because they are fragile.

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