Egyptian · Desserts

Qatayef Mahshi

One-sided pancakes stuffed with nuts and cinnamon, pinched shut and fried, then dropped into syrup. The Ramadan sweet, sold by the kilo from stalls after sunset.

1 hr prep and cooking plus 30 min standing 1 hr 30 min start to finish Serves 8 servings Medium
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Qatayef Mahshi

Photograph credit: Qatayef3 by براء · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence

Making Qatayef Mahshi

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  1. Blend the batter ingredients smooth and leave 30 minutes until the surface bubbles. Boil the syrup sugar, water and lemon 8 minutes, add the rose water off the heat and chill.

  2. Mix the walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and coconut.

  3. Cook 8 cm pancakes in a dry non-stick pan on one side only, 60 to 90 seconds, until the top is matt and covered in open holes. Do not turn them. Cover with a cloth.

  4. While still warm, put a spoonful of filling on the holed side of each, fold in half, and pinch the seam completely shut from one end to the other.

  5. Check every seam. One gap will empty the parcel into the oil.

  6. Heat the oil to 175°C / 345°F and fry in batches of five, 3 minutes, turning once, until deep gold.

  7. Lift straight from the oil into the cold syrup for 45 seconds, then drain on a rack and serve warm.

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Tips for Making Qatayef Mahshi

  • One side only. A turned pancake will not seal.
  • Pinch the whole seam and check it. Leaks ruin the oil.
  • Hot from the fryer into cold syrup.

What Goes With Qatayef Mahshi

  • Turkish coffee
  • Karkade
  • Mint tea

Leftovers and Storage

Best within a few hours. Unfilled pancakes keep 2 days refrigerated and freeze for a month.

Questions About Qatayef Mahshi

How long does Qatayef Mahshi take to make?

35 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking, plus 30 minutes of standing, so allow 1 hour 30 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 8.

The Numbers per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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Compiled by Turab

Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.

First published ; last changed .