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Kutabs with herbs and cheese

Kutabs with Herbs and Cheese

Tasty, mouthwatering, made from simple ingredients — the perfect quick bite! Kutabs are thin flatbreads folded around a fragrant filling. Here the dough is made with boiling water, which makes it especially soft and stretchy: it rolls out paper-thin and won't tear as it cooks.

Julia

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Wheat flour

160

Water (boiling)

100

Vegetable oil

Salt

0.5

Hard cheese

120

Green onion

Dill

Sorrel

Parsley

Butter

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 21 % 10 g

Fats 31 % 15 g

Carbohydrates 48 % 23 g

267 kcal

GI: 4 / 0 / 96

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make herb-and-cheese kutabs? Gather your ingredients. Instead of hard cheese you can use suluguni or another brined cheese — and if you go with a brined cheese, you won't need to salt the filling. For the greens, use whatever's in season: spinach, basil, nettle, cilantro, mint, or lettuce all work.
Step 2:

Make the dough first. Stir the salt into the flour, then sift it into a bowl.
Step 3:

Add the vegetable oil.
Step 4:

Pour the boiling water into the flour and knead the dough — start with a spoon, then switch to your hands once it's cool enough to touch. If it comes out too wet, work in a little more flour; if it's too stiff, add a splash more boiling water.
Step 5:

Knead until the dough is smooth and even. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for half an hour. During that time the gluten develops, making the dough soft and elastic.
Step 6:

While the dough rests, make the filling. Rinse the greens well and pull off any thick stems. Dry them thoroughly and chop finely.
Step 7:

Grate the cheese on the large holes of a box grater.
Step 8:

Combine the greens and cheese in a bowl and mix. Taste, and add salt if it needs it.
Step 9:

By now the dough is ready. Roll it into a log and cut it into 6 equal pieces.
Step 10:

On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece out into a very thin round.
Step 11:

Spread 2–3 tablespoons of filling over one half of the round.
Step 12:

Fold the other half over and pinch the edges tightly to seal. Shape the rest of the kutabs the same way.
Step 13:

Heat a skillet. Cook the kutabs in the dry pan over medium heat until golden on both sides.
Step 14:

Brush the hot kutabs with butter on both sides.
Step 15:

Serve the kutabs hot with sour cream or any sauce you like. Enjoy!

Kutabs are an ancient Azerbaijani dish and a staple of the local table. Traditionally they're cooked over an open flame on a special griddle called a saj. Every region of Azerbaijan has its own recipes and tricks — fillings can also include farmer's cheese, meat, mushrooms, all sorts of vegetables, even pomegranate seeds. In Azerbaijani restaurants, herb kutabs are served with spicy cherry-plum or pomegranate sauces. At home, they pair well with cultured dairy; in the Caucasus, for instance, these thin turnovers are dipped in a sauce of soured milk with chopped herbs and garlic.
Be ready to use a little more or less flour than the recipe calls for. Go by the consistency of the dough rather than a fixed amount.
For the best results, use filtered or bottled water with a neutral taste. Tap water can leave the dough with an off, characteristic flavor.