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I dare you to eat just one of these divine Circassian Haliva. ✨ These are just the most delicious little parcels filled with either potatoes or Circassian cheese, again best enjoyed with a strong cup of black tea. I asked my mother-in-law what she thought if I were to experiment and add different ingredients or flavors. Her response...."Well then they're not haliva."So there you go!
These are haliva (although I didn't have Circassian cheese so I substituted a mix of ricotta and goat cheese). And I did try adding dill to my cheese mixture and thought it was pretty tasty, although I'm sure Auntie Suzanne wouldn't agree. Please click on the link in bio for the full recipe and more stories over on my blog! And for guidance on how to fold and cut these, swipe through for videos of the ladies at the Circassian Jumaeya in Amman making them.
500g all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons grape seed oil
canola oil for frying
for the cheese filling:
300g ricotta cheese
100g soft goat cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped dill
for the potato filling:
300g peeled potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
First make the dough by mixing together the flour and salt with a fork before adding the water and oil. Bring the mixture together and knead until it’s smooth. Cover it with plastic and set aside while you’re making the fillings.
For the cheese filling simply mix everything together. For the potato, place chunks of potatoes in salted cold water and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes, or until a pairing knife can be easily inserted into the potatoes without resistance. Drain the potatoes and place back in the hot pot so they steam a bit and dry out. Now simply mash and add the salt and pepper to your taste.
Cut the dough into quarters and working one piece at a time roll out using a pasta machine or kitchen aid pasta attachment if you have one. You want dough to be quite thin and even - long rectangular sheets. It should be quite easy to work with. I started on setting one on my machine, moved to setting 2 and finished off with a five. Lay the sheets of dough on your counter and cut into 3 inch squares which you can then fill with a generous tablespoon of whichever filling you choose. Fold the dough over on itself before cutting into an arched shape (I used a fluted pastry cutter, but you don’t have to). Make sure everything is well-sealed before continuing until all of your dough and filling have been used (makes approximately 64 pieces).
Heat the canola oil in a heavy large pot until about 350/175 degrees. Carefully add your haliva parcels and allow them to brown on the one side before flipping and cooking the other. Drain on paper towels and eat as soon as possible!
