Maamoul Pastry This Eid Al Adha

Eid El Adha for Druze community is the festival of sacrifice! It is a religious time preceded by ten sacred days known as “Oshour El Eid”, where the ultimate activity is to pray, fast, and seek forgiveness by performing good deeds. Besides helping the poor, gifting children, and gathering with family and friends, an emphasis is placed on special foods and desserts.

In observance of Eid El Adha, special festive meals are shortlisted for this blessed holiday. The writers at Druze Times have picked a handful of delicious recipes that Druze cook on this holy festival, which are considered the finest meals for Druze food lovers.

Eid means sacrifice, and usually families gather at their grandparents homes for “Sheep of the feast”. It’s a very popular tradition in the Middle East — specifically Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. This heavenly meat from sheep is spiced and then cut into cubes and placed on skewers. The skewers are then grilled over red hot coals. This is what’s known in Lebanon as “Mashawi”.

Another exceptional food on this holiday is “Hrisi”. The Druze of Mount-Lebanon have a very special recipe and preparation for this unique meal. It’s a rich plate made of wheat, slow-cooked meat gravy, and mainly lamb or beef along with bone marrow. and cooked for a number of hours with regular stirring. The bowl or plate is then garnished with delightful spices like cinnamon. It’s a very pleasant stew and usually adored without any appetizers.

After a long day of Eid celebrations, visiting neighbors and relatives is an essential activity. Druze people always special treats to share with their visitors. That’s when Lebanese pastries known as “Maamoul” and “Kaak El Eid” are usually served. There are a few recipes with minor differences, but the result is the same — delicious! These firm tart-like pastries are made mainly from special flour, sugar, butter, and rose water. They come in different sizes and shapes, some as flat cookies sprinkled with sesame, known in Lebanon as “Ka’ak”. Other pastries are sinfully stuffed with pistachios, dates or walnuts and known as “Maamoul”.

May all Druze around the world celebrate this holy festival with happiness, prosperity and peace of mind. May we keep relying on the knowledge, intellect ,and objectivity in action and in speech. And may we stay mindful of the Tawheed standards based on believing in the divine justice and abiding by boundaries set forth by Almighty God. Happy Eid everyone!

Maamoul Recipe

Prepare in 1 hour | Cook for 2 hours | Ready in 3 hours

Ingredients:
3 kg (6.6lb) semolina
2 kg (4.4lb) durum flour
1.6 kg (3.52lb) pure butter ghee
1 kg (2.2lb) sugar
6 tbsp yeast
Rose water
Orange blossom water
Pistachios
Walnuts

Directions:
1. Place the semolina and durum flour in a large bowl.
2. Heat butter ghee on the oven until melted (do not boil).
3. Add the sugar and yeast to the semolina and flour and mix together with the butter until forming a good dough.
4. Add the rose water and blossom orange water until you get a perfect coherent dough.
5. Let dough rest for 2 hours or until risen.
6. Form Maamoul shapes using the wooden molds.
7. After baking is complete and pastries are golden brown, let them cool.
8. Sprinkle powdered sugar on the top of each pastry.

Filling:
1. Grind the pistachio (same recipe applies for walnuts).
2. Add half kilogram of sugar and a handful of durum flour.
3. Add rose water and blossom water until the mixture is perfectly blended.

Note:
1. Do not add water.
2. Add rose water and orange blossom water depending on the brand.
3. Baking temp and time will vary greatly depending on type of oven used.
4. Temperature should be low to prevent burning and allow the tough dough to bake throughout. You can start with 180 degrees and bake until golden brown).