AI-generated image
Shurayk
Sweet sesame ring bread
Shurayk (شريك): soft sweet sesame ring breads from Mecca and Medina
Shurayk is the bread that fills the bakery windows of Mecca and Medina in Ramadan and on Eid mornings: soft, golden rings, faintly sweet and fragrant with mahlab, crusted with sesame and nigella. Families break them open with white cheese, olives and a glass of milky tea after the dawn meal or on the first morning of Eid. The crumb is tender like a brioche but lighter, because it uses milk and a little ghee rather than lots of butter and eggs. A frequent mistake is letting the rings over-prove after shaping; the holes close up and the rings bake into puffy buns. Chef's tip: shape them with a generous hole about 4 cm wide, since it shrinks by half in the oven.
- Total time
- 145 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 ⅛ lb plain flour
- ¼ oz instant dried yeast
- 1 ¾ oz sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground mahlab
- 1 cup whole milkwarm
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 ¾ oz gheesoft
For the top
- 2 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tsp nigella seeds
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Fresh ingredients (2)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Stir 1 ⅛ lb plain flour, ¼ oz instant dried yeast, 1 ¾ oz sugar, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp ground mahlab together in a big bowl. Add 1 cup whole milk and ¼ cup warm water and bring together into a dough.
Step 2: Knead for 5 minutes, then work in 1 ¾ oz ghee a little at a time and knead for another 5–7 minutes until the dough is silky and no longer greasy.
12 minStep 3: Cover and leave in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 hour.
60 minStep 4: Divide into 8 pieces. Roll each into a rope about 30 cm long, join the ends into a ring and pinch the seam well. Set the rings on two lined trays with a wide hole in the middle.
Step 5: Cover loosely and prove for 25–30 minutes, until puffy but still springing back slowly when pressed. Heat the oven to 375°F (350°F fan).
30 minStep 6: Brush the rings with 2 tbsp milk and sprinkle thickly with 3 tbsp sesame seeds and 1 tsp nigella seeds.
Step 7: Bake until deep golden on top and underneath, 16–20 minutes; the base should sound hollow when tapped.
20 minStep 8: Cool on a rack under a clean cloth so the crust stays soft. Keep in a bag for a day, or freeze.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 54 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does shurayk take?
- About 145 minutes in total: 125 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
SalufPuffy flatbread
Saluf is the everyday bread of Yemenite Israelis, slapped onto a hot pan or taboon in Rosh HaAyin and Sha'arayim in Rehovot and eaten with marak temani, hilbe and zhug. It is soft and blistered, thicker than pita and with no pocket, made to tear and dunk. Home cooks often roll it too thin, which gives a cracker; it should be about 1 cm thick so it stays pillowy. Chef's tip: cook it under a lid on a very hot dry pan for the first minute, which traps steam and puffs it the way a taboon does.
Israeli
ChipaCheese bread rings
In Paraguay you hear 'chipa, chipa!' called by vendors with big baskets on buses and street corners, and every family bakes it for Holy Week, when chipa is the food of Good Friday. Cassava starch, a little cornmeal, butter, eggs and a lot of hard cheese are kneaded into a dough scented with aniseed, shaped into rings or small rolls and baked in a hot oven, traditionally a domed clay tatakua. It's chewy, crisp outside and best warm with cocido (toasted yerba tea). Chef's tip: the dough should feel soft and slightly greasy; add milk a spoon at a time, as too much makes the chipa spread flat.
Paraguayan
Akki rottiRice flour flatbread
Akki rotti is the breakfast of Bengaluru and the old Mysore country: rice flour mixed with grated vegetables, dill, coconut and green chilli, patted out thin by hand straight onto a cold pan, then cooked until speckled and crisp at the edges. Every home has its own mix; dill (sabbasige soppu) is the classic flavour, but cucumber, carrot or fenugreek all turn up. It is eaten hot off the pan with coconut chutney or a dab of ghee and spicy chutney powder, and it is naturally gluten-free. Chef's tip: work with two pans in turn, patting the next rotti onto a cooled pan while the first one cooks; patting onto a hot pan burns your fingers and gives an uneven rotti.
Indian