Name: Date-filled Kleicha (Kleichat il-Tamur)
Cuisine: Iraqi
Ingredients: Using a rolling-pin flatten half the dough into a rectangle, ¼in/6mm thick. Fill two-thirds of the rectangle, lengthwise, with half of the date filling by taking pieces of the filling and flattening them between your fingers and then spreading them on two-thirds of the rolled-out dough. Fold the unfilled third on the middle third, and then turn the other third over the already folded third. Press firmly. With a sharp knife cut into slices about 1in/2.5cm wide. Prick them lightly in 2 or 3 places with a fork, and arrange them on a baking sheet, bottom side down, i.e. avoid letting the cut side touch the surface of the baking sheet, as this might cause the date filling to burn.; Take a piece of dough the size of a walnut, and flatten it with the fingers into a disc. Put a heaped teaspoon of date filling in the middle of the disc. Gather the edges and seal them well to prevent the date from showing. Form into a slightly flattened ball, make a dent in the middle with your thumb, and shape a kind of border around the upper rim of the flattened ball, by pinching it with an upwards twist. Alternatively, if you have a wooden mold (qalab il-kleicha), put the stuffed piece into the indent, press it down well, and then tap it out.

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Delights from the Garden of Eden

By Nawal Nasrallah

Published 2019

About

The following are the two traditional ways of shaping date-filled kleicha.

Method

Take a piece of dough the size of a walnut, and flatten it with the fingers into a disc. Put a heaped teaspoon of date filling in the middle of the disc. Gather the edges and seal them well to prevent the date from showing. Form into a slightly flattened ball, make a dent in the middle with your thumb, and shape

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Date-filled Kleicha

Kleichat il-Tamur

Method

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