Date-filled Kleicha

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.

Kleichat il-Tamur

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