Azerbaijan

Today we’ll be making pancakes, but of the savory type! Azeri Kutab are thin pancakes filled with vegetable or meat, the prep I’m doing will be spinach and herb.

For those wishing to skip to the recipe, I’m basing my prep on this post from the Azeri Food website.

LET’S DO THIS:

For the dough:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk

For the filling:

  • 6 ounces fresh spinach, shopped
  • 1-3 bunches green onions (to taste), chopped
  • fresh basil (to taste), finely chopped
  • fresh dill (to taste), finely chopped
  • fresh curly parsley (to taste), finely chopped
  • fresh sorrel (to taste)*, finely shopped
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons goat milk yogurt, plus additional for serving
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • (optional) 1-2 ounces of feta cheese, finely crumbled
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, plus additional for frying the pancakes
  • (optional) dry mint (to taste), to be added to the serving yogurt

*sorrel is not sold in most US grocers, bu you almost certainly have some growing nearby! Yellow Wood Sorrel is a type of edible clover. Please use caution foraging, only pick from areas where you know there has not been application of not food safe pesticides. If sorrel is not accessible to you, you can substitute with a dash of lemon juice

Total prep time for me was about 35 minutes (14:10 to 14:45), your time will vary.

Here’s what you’re going to do:

  • Prepare the dough by mixing half the flour, salt, and milk. Fold in the additional flour and knead to a firm dough (you may need to add flour or milk to get the exact right consistency). Roll into 6 balls and allow to sit, covered, for 30 minutes
  • Sauté the onions and spinach in the olive oil. Remove from heat.
  • Beat the egg with the yogurt and if you are adding, the feta cheese
  • Mix the chopped fresh herbs into the egg mixture. Mix in the cooled, cooked spinach and onions
  • Take about 2-3 ounces of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten into a circle about 7-9 inches around.
  • Put several tablespoons of filling onto half of the dough, leaving about 1/2″ from the edges, and fold. Pinch the edges closed. Cook evenly on both sides.
  • That’s it! Serve with yogurt (with dry mint, if desired).

Total time for me was about two hours, twenty minutes (14:10 to 16:30).