Sfiha is a Middle Eastern and South American pastry filled with a meat mixture and flavored with spices and yogurt. The dough can be leavened or unleavened and is rolled out thin. It can be served with yogurt or tahini sauce and vegetables or herbs.
Sfiha is a type of pastry or bread that is covered or filled with a meat mixture that is popular in some countries in the Middle East and South America. It is sometimes compared to a pizza because it appears to have toppings on thin, circular bread, although in some areas cooks form the dough into a small packet with the meat inside. The dough used is often leavened, but it can also be unleavened like a pita. The meat mixture is flavored to give it a sweet and sour taste. When the sfiha is finished, it can be served with yogurt, cucumber or tahini sauce, a type of sesame seed paste.
The first part of a sfiha, and one that can help determine the character of the finished meal, is the type of bread dough involved. This usually starts out as a regular yeasted bread dough. Spices such as cumin, sauteed onions, or allspice can be integrated into the batter so it tastes more distinct from the meat. It’s also normal to put some yogurt into the dough for moisture and a tart flavor. The final dough is rolled out very thin, like a dough shell.
Meat stuffing can contain a wide variety of ingredients and spices. The two most common meats used in stuffing are lamb and beef. Vegetables such as onion and tomato are mixed with the meat. Spices such as parsley, allspice, red pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and paprika are added according to taste. Yogurt is usually included in the mix, although vinegar is sometimes used to give it a strong taste.
Sfiha filling can be rounded and balanced with ingredients like pomegranate juice, ginger and garlic. Garam Masala, a blend of roasted spices and tahini paste can be added to deepen the flavours. The whole mixture is pan-fried until the meat is almost cooked through and the flavors have blended together.
When making sfiha for cooking, the dough is rolled out flat and thin. To create a flat pizza-like sfiha, the meat mixture is spread over the top of the dough until it has covered the entire area except for a small space around the edges. For a sfiha that looks more like a small packet, spoonfuls of meat are placed on the pastry sheet a few inches apart and the dough is cut into squares with the meat in the center of each square. The edges of each square are pinched together around the meat to form a small cup of dough.
Sfiha are baked in the oven until the dough has started to brown and the meat mixture has finished cooking. They are usually served hot along with a bowl of yogurt or some tahini sauce. Diced vegetables like tomatoes or cucumbers can be sprinkled on top, as well as fresh herbs like coriander seeds or pomegranate.
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