Katayef Pancakes

Ingredients for the batter:

• ½ cup warm water
• 1 tsp dry yeast
• 1 level tbsp sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 level tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh milk

Ingredients for the filling:

• 200 g fresh mushrooms (button mushrooms)
• 2-3 tbsp oil
• 1 head onion
• processed cheese (about 100 g)
• salt, ground black pepper

Preparing the pancake batter:

1. Put the water (nicely warm, not hot), the sugar and the dry yeast in a bowl.
2. Leave to stand for about ten minutes.
3. Then pour in the warm (again, be careful it is not hot) milk, flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Stir the mixture and leave it for 20-30 minutes. *The mixture is thicker than needed at this stage. And as Dianka advises, I added about half a cup of water, to thin it and get a mixture that is both thick and pours into the pan. (Adding more water is after the mixture has already rested those 20-30 minutes.) Compared to the batter for classic pancakes, this one is thicker, but not so much that we'd be talking about fried dough puffs ;)

Preparing the filling: 5. Sauté the chopped mushrooms in a little oil. 6. Add the chopped onion and, once the juice from the mushrooms has evaporated, let the mixture fry very lightly. (It should stay in the fat, with no liquid in the pan.) 7. Add salt and ground black pepper to taste. 8. Cut the processed cheese into cubes (so it's ready and handy for the next step).

Baking and shaping the Katayef pancakes: 9. Heat a dry non-stick pan on the stove (don't be afraid, they won't stick and don't grease the pan). 10. Pour some of the pancake batter so that the circle you get is roughly about 10-12 cm. 11. Bake the pancake on one side only and be careful the top does not dry out too much. I did the baking, filling and pinching in parallel, which is why I have no photos of the process. The technique is as follows: 12. Bake 1 pancake (on one side only). 13. As soon as it's ready, remove it and put the next one in the pan. 14. Place filling in the center (of the one you took out of the pan, putting the filling on the unbaked side). On top of the mushroom filling place a piece of processed cheese. 15. Pinch the edges (you can shape them into such triangular forms, as in the photos, or simply into half-moons). 16. While you're closing one pancake, the next is already baked, and so quickly (because they really do go fast) you prepare them all. 17. Arrange all the pancakes in a tray and, before serving, bake them in a warm oven (180°C) for about 10 minutes, so that both the processed cheese softens and the aroma of the mushrooms intensifies. I liked this extra baking a lot, because the pancakes can be prepared earlier and only warmed up before serving.

I served them as a warm appetizer. Try them and enjoy!