Armenian cuisine is characterized by diversity and exoticism. The culinary traditions of individual regions of the country have many differences. For centuries, they have been formed and transmitted to young generations, filling the life of the local population with taste and aromatic diversity. The topic of the article will be recipes for making Armenian ghats at home.
Gata is a Caucasian dessert resembling a pie with a filling or a puff pastry. Who and when created the delicacy is unknown, but historians found the first mention of the ghat in the work of Vardan Aigektsi called “Pig and Ghat”, written at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries.
Brave Armenian culinary experts are not afraid of experiments. Therefore, some dishes have many cooking options, and gata is no exception. In Armenian cuisine, cookies are held in high esteem. Professional cooks and ordinary housewives bake it for the holidays and on weekdays.
The traditional recipe for the Armenian gata
Armenian kyat is prepared in various ways. I will consider popular cooking options. I'll start with the traditional recipe, because this is the basis for experimentation and the implementation of culinary fantasies.
- flour 600 g
- sour cream 100 g
- butter 150 g
- sugar 200 g
- egg yolk 1 PC
- soda ½ tsp
- I grind one hundred grams of oil with two glasses of flour, add sour cream and soda and mix. Knead the dough. The result is a homogeneous elastic mass.
- For the filling, grind the remaining flour, 50 grams of butter and sugar into crumbs. Sometimes I add a pinch of vanilla sugar. I divide it into four parts, each roll into a layer three millimeters thick, lay out the filling and make rolls.
- In order for the Armenian ghat to have a glossy surface after baking, grease the rolls with yolk diluted with water and cut into slices. I spread the kyata on a baking sheet and put it in the oven. At 200 degrees, bake for 20 minutes.
Puff pastry gata
Under the influence of high temperature, the filling of the Armenian gata softens, impregnates the dough and is converted into an oil cream.
- Puff pastry - 500 g.
- Flour - 3 cups.
- Butter - 1 pack.
- Sugar - 2 cups.
- Egg yolk - 1 pc.
- Vanillin - a pinch.
- Defrosting puff pastry, after making the filling. Combine the slightly melted butter with sugar and flour, add vanillin. It turns out baby.
- Ready to use, the dough is rolled into a rectangle 5 mm thick, spread the filling and form a tight roll.
- Using a rolling pin, I give the roll a flat shape, then smear it with whipped yolk and cut it into pieces with a curly knife.
- I bake the Armenian gata from puff pastry in the oven at 170 degrees until a beautiful crust appears.
Real Round Armenian Ghat
Now I will consider the recipe for making real Armenian pastries - ghat pie. Thanks to this original recipe, you will delight your family with a delicacy, the existence of which households did not even realize.
- Butter - 100 g.
- Flour - 500 g.
- Milk - 100 ml.
- Dry yeast - 1 spoon.
- Egg - 2 pcs.
- Sugar - 4 tablespoons.
- Salt - 0.25 tablespoons.
- Vanilla sugar - 1 spoon.
FILLING:
- Ghee - 200 g
- Powdered sugar - 1 cup.
- Vanilla sugar - 1 spoon.
- Flour - 1.5 cups.
- Yolk - 1 pc.
- Making dough. In warmed milk I dissolve the yeast, add flour, stir and put in a warm place for half an hour to increase the mass. Beat eggs, butter and vanilla sugar, introduce into the dough along with salt.
- Gradually add flour, mix. I make a thick dough. I shift it to a suitable container and leave it under the lid in a warm place for another half hour.
- Doing stuffing. I rub flour and butter with my hands, add vanilla sugar and powdered sugar. It turns out a homogeneous crumb. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- I divide the dough into three parts, roll out small juices, grease with ghee, spread the filling, connect the edges. I form the blank with my fingers and roll it out with a rolling pin so that the thickness of the cake is one and a half centimeter.
- I spread the pies on a greased baking sheet, grease it with egg yolk and send it to the preheated oven for 25 minutes. I take the finished gata out of the oven, put it on a towel and cover it.
Gata with nuts recipe
Gata is a sweet treat that welcomes experimentation. In the next recipe, I suggest adding a little walnuts to the filling. This ingredient diversifies the taste of Caucasian cookies.
- Flour - 3 cups.
- Margarine - 300 g.
- Sour cream - 1 cup.
- Walnuts - 0.5 cups.
- Yolk - 1 pc.
- Sugar to taste.
- Vanillin - 1 spoon.
- Salt and soda - a pinch.
- I mix two cups of sifted flour with salt and soda, add 250 grams of margarine passed through a grater, grind everything. I introduce sour cream into the dough and mix until smooth. It turns out an elastic and elastic workpiece, which I divide into four parts. I wrap each in a film and send it in the refrigerator for an hour.
- I’m doing stuffing. I chop the walnut kernels with a knife or crush it with a rolling pin into small crumbs, add sugar or honey, finely chopped butter and vanilla. I introduce a glass of flour into the mass and mix. The result is crumbs of uniform consistency.
- In turn, I take out pieces of dough from the refrigerator, roll them into rectangular flat cakes, lay out the filling and form the rolls. I pierce each blank with a fork and apply a pattern, then cut it into triangles and spread on a baking sheet with parchment paper, grease with yolk.
- I bake a gatu at 180 degrees a third of an hour. I control the process so that the crust is not too dark. I serve with unsweetened tea, cocoa or fruit drink. Delicious anyway.
Cooking Armenian gatu on kefir
The Armenian gatu is made from sour cream, but kefir is perfect. The fermented milk product adds unforgettable shades to the taste of the finished dessert.
- Butter - 250 g.
- Flour - 3.5 cups.
- Kefir - 0.75 liters.
- Sugar - 0.5 cups.
- Egg - 1 pc.
- Yolk - 1 pc.
- Vanilla sugar - 2 tablespoons.
- Baking powder - 0.5 tablespoons.
- A pinch of salt.
- Knead the dough. Pour 2.5 cups flour into a blender bowl, add 125 grams of chopped butter, a baking powder and a little salt. I chop the mass. If there is no blender, I grind the flour with butter manually.
- I combine the resulting crumb with kefir and egg. Kneading. I wrap it in a film and send it to a cool place for half an hour. While the dough is resting, I am filling.
- Combine the remaining oil with a glass of flour, simple and vanilla sugar, mix until a homogeneous consistency. It turns out a soft filling that is easy to spread.
- I divide the chilled dough into two parts, roll it into layers three millimeters thick, distribute and form the filling. The reverse side of the knife on the rolls make shallow cuts, after I cut each roll into 8 parts.
- I spread the prepared gata in a baking dish, grease with yolk and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 175 degrees. I store dessert in an airtight container, otherwise it dries quickly.
Recipe for yogurt
As far as I know, Armenian culinary specialists use yogurt for preparing the considered kyat. If you do not know, yogurt is an Armenian dairy product based on milk and sourdough.
- Butter - 1 pack.
- Matsoni - 1 glass.
- Egg - 1 pc.
- Flour - 2.5 cups.
- Soda - 0.5 tablespoons.
- Yolk - 1 pc.
FILLING:
- Ghee - 100 g
- Sugar - 1 cup.
- Flour - 1 cup.
- Vanilla sugar - 2 packs.
- I mix the egg with butter, add the yogurt, soda, flour and knead the soft dough. If everything is done correctly, it does not stick to your hands.
- For the filling, carefully rub the butter with sugar, introduce the flour and continue to grind to the state of crumbs. After adding vanilla sugar.
- I divide the dough into two halves. I roll each part into a layer, spread the filling on top, form rolls and fasten the ends together.
- I cut each roll into pieces with a curly knife, spread on a baking sheet, grease with yolk and bake in the oven at 180 degrees until a beautiful crust appears.
Azerbaijani ghat recipe
A delicious Armenian kyat is also prepared in Azerbaijan, where there are several varieties of goodies. Among them are the ghats of Nakhichevan, Karabakh and Baku. They differ in cooking technology, but not significantly. I will consider the simplest recipe for cooking - the ghats of Baku. Contrary to simplicity, the delicacy melts in your mouth and brings a lot of pleasure.
- Flour - 3 cups.
- Egg - 1 pc.
- Sour cream - 1 cup.
- Butter - 150 g.
- Baking powder - 1 spoon.
- Yolk - 1 pc.
FILLING:
- Sugar - 1 cup.
- Flour - 0.5 cups.
- Frozen butter - 100 g.
- I add baking powder, egg, sour cream and soft butter to the sifted flour. I knead the soft dough, wrap in a film, send for half an hour in the refrigerator.
- To prepare the filling, I pass the oil from the freezer through a grater, add sugar and flour. I rub the mass and put the filling in a cold place for a third of an hour.
- I divide the dough into three parts, roll it into layers, spread the filling on top. From each layer I make a roll, cut into pieces, shift to a greased baking sheet. I grease each kyat with yolk.
- I send the baking sheet to the oven. At 180 degrees, bake for 35 minutes. This time is enough for the kyata to acquire a beautiful crust.
I hope that thanks to the recipes that I shared, you will please the family with delicious and fragrant Armenian cookies - gata. It is combined with any drinks: tea, coffee, cocoa, fruit and berry compotes and juices. Bon Appetit!