If I were a sultan... I would eat gata!

I inherited two recipes for baking gata (we pronounced kyatA in our family). According to one of them, it turns out to be crumbly, this type of kyata resembles cookies, and according to the second, it turns out to be a small round butter pie, a flatbread made from yeast dough. These two recipes are united by a filling called khoriz - a mixture of powdered sugar with melted butter and flour. Today I propose to bake round traditional kyata. In my childhood, it was mostly my great-grandmother who baked, and all sweet pastries were classified as oriental sweets. I remember stories that round kyata is baked on special occasions, for weddings, celebrations, but we always had it, it was baked goods for every day. All yeast pies by A selection homemade recipes for oriental sweets -

Compound: (I was expecting a large crowd of guests, so I baked 12 pies the size of an average plate. You can halve the amount of ingredients proportionally).

For rich yeast dough:

• Milk - 200 grams
• Yeast - 50 grams pressed (4 level teaspoons dry)
• Sour cream – 150 grams
• Eggs - 4 pieces
• Sugar - 150-200 grams
• Butter - 100 grams
• Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• Vanillin – 2 sachets (2 grams)
• Flour - approximately 700-800 grams + 100 grams for adding when preparing and rolling out the dough
• 2-3 yolks for greasing the top of the kyata
• Unscented vegetable oil for greasing baking paper

For the filling:

• Ghee butter - 300 grams
• Sugar - 400 grams
• Flour - 200-250 grams

Preparation

Prepare the dough for yeast dough - heat a glass of milk to a temperature slightly warmer than room temperature. Add yeast, add 1 tablespoon of sugar, about 100 grams of flour, stir. I use pressed yeast; I don’t really trust dry yeast. The consistency of the dough is like that of pancake dough.

Prepare the dough

Cover and leave warm for half an hour. The dough should increase greatly in volume.

Mix sour cream, sugar, vanillin and salt.

Beat with a whisk.

Whisk
Add oil

Mix the resulting mass with the dough.

Mix with dough

Add the seeded flour in small portions.

Add flour

Knead a breathable dough that does not stick to your hands. Cover the dough and leave in a warm place for 30-40 minutes.

Add flour, knead the dough

Prepare the filling for the kyata. (I immediately set aside a couple of tablespoons of ghee because I want to make one kyata with a salty filling; my great-grandmother called it Shirak. Shirak kyata has an unusual and pleasant combination of salty filling with a sweet and buttery dough. Shirak kyata is very good with a cup of sweet). Fry the flour in a dry frying pan, stirring occasionally. It is not necessary to achieve a brown color; as soon as the flour from below begins to change color and a pleasant smell is felt, you can turn it off. Mix melted butter with powdered sugar or fine sugar and add cooled flour in small portions. Do not pour out all the flour at once! You don't need more flour than you need butter.

Mix the oil. powdered sugar, flour

Rub the filling into crumbs with your hands.

Grind into crumbs

Meanwhile, the dough has come up very well (I barely had time to catch it!)

The dough has increased in volume

Grease your hands with oil or flour and knead the dough until it completely stops sticking to your hands.

Kyata dough

Divide the dough into parts, set aside one part for Shirak kyata with salty filling. Divide the filling “by eye” according to the number of future sweet pies. The kyata should not be very large, remember the flatbread that Nina, the heroine of Natalya Varley in Captive of the Caucasus, devoured to the immortal song “If I were a Sultan”? Roll out the flatbreads to a thickness of 1-1.5 cm. Brush with melted butter.

Roll out round cakes

Place the filling in the middle. Each flatbread should contain approximately the same volume of filling as dough.

Place the filling

Gather, pinching, the edges of the dough towards the center into an envelope, as when forming.

Carefully pinch the edges and carefully flatten the bun into a flat cake, turn it seam side down and roll it out, straightening it with your hands and trying to give it a round shape.

Form a flat cake

Cover a baking sheet with parchment and grease with oil. Place the tortillas seam side down. Brush with yolk and apply a pattern with the back of a knife, usually diamonds made of stripes, unless there is a special print. ( My great-grandmother had such a seal, I think many Caucasian families still have it, but an employee brought it to me for a photo, this seal was made in 1929).

Stamp for kyata

Prick the kyata in several places with a fork to allow hot air to escape.

Grease with yolk, apply a pattern

Bake traditional round kyata in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes until bright golden brown.

Round kata

Lastly, prepare Shirak kyata. I have some flour left, mix it with butter in such a proportion that you can grind it into crumbs. Lightly salt, the taste should be pleasant, slightly salty. Place this filling in the last tortilla. Kyata is ready. These pies do not go stale for a long time; you can store them at room temperature in a tightly sealed container for a week. Bon appetit!

Yeast dough gata

The last digression, another childhood impression - in the family of my mother’s friend, they baked a coin in a kyat and the one who came across it was always very happy and was considered to be lucky. At home, I also asked for a coin to be put in the pie; I really wanted to take it out. But the great-grandmother never did this, because there is another belief - if, when cutting the kyata, the knife touches the coin, then misfortune awaits the family... These are the things you remember when you cook according to old family recipes. Now nothing stops me from baking a coin and making my childhood dream come true. Why don't I do this?

Calories: Not specified
Cooking time: Not indicated

The Armenian gata turns out to be very tasty and unusual. Recipe for puff pastry with unusual filling. Few people will guess what ingredients are included in its composition. Armenian gata is prepared easily and quickly, even a teenager can handle it. This is a completely budget-friendly baked product that does not require large expenses. Products for it are always available in the kitchen of every housewife. And also see how to cook.

Required Products:

For the test

- butter – 150 g,
- wheat flour – 250 g (plus a little more),
- natural yogurt – 100 ml,
- baking powder – ½ teaspoon,
- salt - a pinch.

For filling

Sugar – 200 g,
- wheat flour – 200 g,
- butter – 80 g,
- vanilla sugar – 10g,
- yolk for lubrication.

How to cook with photos step by step

1. In a bowl, combine sifted wheat flour, baking powder, salt and butter (preferably cold). Chop the mixture with a knife or grind it into crumbs. Tip: You can use margarine instead of butter.




2. Add natural yogurt to the resulting crumbs. Tip: Matsun (matsoni) is traditionally used, but it can be replaced with natural yogurt or kefir.




3. Knead an elastic, moderately soft dough. If the dough sticks too much to your hands, you can add a small amount of flour. Roll the resulting dough into a ball and wrap in cling film. Place in the refrigerator for 40-50 minutes. Tip: the dough for gata does not need to be kneaded for a long time so that the butter does not start to melt from the warmth of your hands. As a result, more flour will be needed - and this will change the structure of the dough not for the better.






4. Meanwhile, prepare the gata filling. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, butter and vanilla sugar. Thoroughly grind all ingredients into crumbs. Tip: for the filling you should use only butter, do not replace it with margarine. The taste of the filling will depend on this, and it should be aromatic with creamy “notes”.




5. Divide the chilled dough into two parts and roll one of them into a thin layer.




6. Distribute some of the filling over the entire surface of the layer and compact it a little.






7. Roll the stuffed layer into a tight roll.




8. Using a soft brush, brush the surface of the roll with egg yolk.




9. Cut the roll into diamonds 4-6 cm wide. To make the cut look much more beautiful and appetizing, use a figured knife (ribbed). Do the same with the rest of the dough.




10. Cover a baking sheet with parchment. Transfer the preparations to a baking sheet. Use a fork to make a “lattice” - this is a traditional pattern for the Armenian gata. Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake the puff Armenian gata at a temperature of 2000C for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat and continue baking it until ready at a temperature of 1800C for 20 minutes. The gata should be nicely browned. Remove from pan and cool.






11. Armenian puff pastry gata is ready. You can invite your family for a cup of aromatic tea.




Bon appetit!
Also try cooking

Step 1: prepare the dough.

Using a fine sieve, sift 400 grams of wheat flour, half a teaspoon of baking soda and a pinch of salt into a deep bowl.
Grate 250 grams of cold butter there on a fine grater. Mix these ingredients with a tablespoon until smooth. We collect the resulting crumbs in a heap, make a depression in it, pour 1 glass of kefir into it and beat in 1 chicken egg without a shell.
With clean hands, knead into a homogeneous and soft dough. If it turns out too liquid and sticky, add a little more flour to it. Then roll the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic cling film and place it in the refrigerator on the lowest shelf. Keep the dough in the cold for 30 - 40 minutes.

Step 2: prepare the filling.

While the dough is infusing, preheat the oven to 180 degrees, cover a non-stick baking sheet with a sheet of baking paper and begin preparing the filling. Sift 120 grams of wheat flour and 1.5 cups of powdered sugar into a clean deep bowl.
Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar to the same container and grate 80 grams of cold butter on a fine grater. Grind these ingredients into crumbs with clean hands.
If the filling is not crumbly, add a little more flour and mix again until it has a loose, sandy texture. Then divide the filling into 3 equal parts.

Step 3: form the Armenian gata.

After 30 - 40 minutes, take the dough out of the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap from it, place it on a cutting board and divide it into 3 equal parts with a kitchen spatula. Then sprinkle the countertop with a small layer of wheat flour, place 1 piece of dough on it and roll it out with a rolling pin into a thick layer 3 millimeter.


You should end up with a large flour rectangle. Distribute 1 part of the filling on its surface.


Roll the dough into a tight roll and cut it into portions diagonally or straight. The cutting and length of the portions depends on your desire, but generally the length does not exceed 7 centimeters. Place the small rolls on a baking sheet prepared for baking, leaving some free space between them. 3 – 4 centimeter


We form the rest of the gata in the same way until the dough with filling is finished. Then beat one or two chicken yolks into a deep plate and add 1 tablespoon of whole pasteurized milk to them. Beat them with a table fork until smooth. Then, using a baking brush, grease the small rolls with the resulting mixture and proceed to the next step.

Step 4: bake Armenian gata.

Place the baking sheet with the still raw dessert into the preheated oven.


Bake Armenian gata until golden brown 20 - 25 minutes. After the required time has passed, put oven mitts on your hands, take the baking sheet out of the oven and place it on the countertop.


Cool the dessert slightly, use a kitchen spatula to transfer it to a large flat dish and serve the gata to the table.

Step 5: serve Armenian gata.

Armenian gata is served warm or chilled. This dish does not need any additions, but if desired, gata can be served with sour cream or any creams: custard, chocolate, lemon-banana and many others. Enjoy!
Bon appetit!

If desired, you can add raisins or chopped nuts to the filling.

Kefir or matsoni can be replaced with sour cream.

If desired, you can make longitudinal stripes on the rolls with a table fork and then cut them with a curly knife.

If desired, butter can be replaced with premium quality margarine.

You can start making cookies with the horiz filling. To do this, you need to pour sifted flour into a bowl and make a well in it. Pour melted butter into it.

Then the flour and butter must be mixed and rubbed with a spoon or hands until it becomes a wet crumb. If necessary, you can add a little flour to make the horiz crumbly.


Then you should add granulated sugar. Cookie dough usually doesn't have sugar added, so the filling should be quite sweet.

In some cases, Armenian cooks replace sugar in the filling with honey.

Khoriz needs to be mixed again and put in the refrigerator. It can be stored in a closed container for several weeks and used as needed.


After this, you can start kneading the dough. You need to pour 2/3 of the measured flour onto the table. . Make a depression in the center of the flour slide and place cold butter cut into pieces into it.


Using a knife, mix the flour and chop it with butter. You should end up with particles the size of buckwheat.

If you don't have butter, as a last resort, you can use high-fat margarine. Buy unsalted margarine.

Then it needs to be reassembled in the form of a slide. Make a wide funnel in the center and break the eggs into it, separating one yolk. You will need it to grease the gata before baking.


The eggs must be mixed carefully with a fork.


Then you need to pour in the matsoni and mix it with soda. A lot of foam will appear.


After this, add vanilla sugar and salt. Carefully grabbing the flour crumbs from the edges, you need to knead a soft dough.


You need to add the remaining flour as needed. The dough should come together into a pliable, soft ball.

This amount of ingredients will yield quite a few servings. Therefore, you don’t have to bake everything at once, but half or a third. Place the remaining filling and dough in the refrigerator (in a container or plastic bag) and use it in a couple of days. This way, you will always have fresh baked goods throughout the week.

The dough should be divided into two portions. Each of them needs to be rolled out into a rectangular layer 2-3 mm thick. The dough is quite oily, so there is no need to sprinkle it with flour.


You need to pour half of the choriza onto the flatbread and level it, leaving 1 centimeter free from the edges.


Then the dough with filling should be rolled into a tight roll.


It needs to be greased with egg yolk and pricked in several places with a fork.


After this, the roll must be cut into portions. The width of each piece should be 2-2.5 cm.

The roll is sometimes cut not into rectangular bars, but into triangles.

The gata should be carefully transferred to a parchment-lined baking sheet using a wide knife or spatula. The products should be baked at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. The finished product has a beautiful golden color.


It is recommended to serve baked goods with matsoni, kefir, and milk; with black, green or herbal tea.

The culinary product does not go stale within a week; it can even be frozen for future use, and then, if necessary, defrosted and heated using a microwave oven.

1. Mix half of the cold butter (not warm) with salt, soda (not quenched with vinegar) and 3 cups of sifted flour. You can rub the butter and flour with your fingers in a deep bowl, or you can entrust this important mission to a food processor.

Pour kefir into the resulting flour crumbs and turn on the kneading again.

2. The dough should be elastic and smooth. If it sticks to your fingers, add flour a tablespoon at a time. I added about five tablespoons of flour.

Prepare the filling by melting the remaining butter, adding 0.5 cups of flour, simple and vanilla sugar. Chop and add walnuts. You can use raisins instead of nuts. Stir the mixture until it becomes homogeneous. The filling should be soft enough to spread.

Divide the dough into two pieces and roll each into a thin rectangle.
Place the filling on top of the rolled out dough and spread evenly.

3. Roll the roll tightly. You should get two rolls with a nut layer.
Using a knife, cut the roll into pieces approximately 3 cm wide.

Line a baking sheet with paper and place cookies on it. Brush the top of each piece with refined sunflower oil or beaten egg yolk.
Set the oven temperature to 180 degrees and bake the cookies for exactly half an hour (I have an electric one, it may take longer for a gas oven).