Dhaktyla (Ladies' Fingers) is a traditional Cypriot recipe for a classic snack or cake of egg-based dough filled with an almond and walnut filling that re fried to cook and soaked in syrup before serving. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Cypriot version of: Ladies' Fingers (Dhaktyla).
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Ingredients:
For the Dough:
360g plain flour
250ml water
1 tsp salt
2 egg yolks
120ml vegetable oil, or melted butter
For the Filling:
100g pounded almonds (pound ground almonds in a mortar)
2 tsp sugar
50g pounded walnuts
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 egg whites
For the Syrup:
200g sugar
750ml water
1 small cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 tbsp lemon juice
120ml honey
oil for deep frying
75g almonds, chopped, to garnish
Method:
Begin with the filling. Place the pounded almonds in a bowl then mix in the sugar, pounded walnuts and cinnamon. Add the egg whites and mix to a thick paste.
For the dough. Sift together the flour and salt into a bowl. Work in the vegetable oil, followed by the egg yolks then work in enough of the water to bring the ingredients together as a dough. Cover with a cloth and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the syrup. Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Continue heating until the mixture is just simmering then cook for about 10 minutes, or until the syrup has thickened slightly.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and roll out thinly then cut into rectangular pieces about 11 x 9cm in size. Place 1 tsp of the filling mixture in the centre of each piece of pastry. Fold the long sides over the stuffing and using the tines of a fork press down on the ends to seal.
Heat oil in a deep fryer to 180°C, add the dhaktyla a few at a time and fry until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper as you cook the next batch.
Before they are cold put the to soak in the hot syrup for 10 minutes. Drain the dhaktyla once more, arrange on a serving dish and sprinkle with the chopped almonds. Serve warm or cold.
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