Burek: The King of Street Food
A classic dough recipe to use as the base for any Croatian/Bosnian style savory or sweet Burek.
Ingredients
- 5 cups all Purpose Flour (and additional)
- 1½ tsp salt
- 2 cups warm water (combine half boiling with half cold)
- 1 tbsp canola oil
Instructions
- Combine the salt and flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the canola oil and mix with hand or a spoon. Start to add the warm water in and mix, adding more until the dough is not dry and fully incorporated. It may feel a little too wet, so you can add a little flour as you work, but don't over flour the dough as you knead. It will smooth out on its own.
- Knead the ball of dough using the heels of your hand on a floured surface for at least 5-7 minutes. Start throwing the dough down (hard) for an additional 2-3 minutes. Once the dough is smooth and soft, cover with a towel or a container for 30-45 minutes.
- Spread a fabric tablecloth over a large table. I made the mistake of using a narrow piece of fabric, which did not cover both sides of the table. It is best to have a tablecloth that hangs off the sides, so you can more easily move the paper thin dough by the cloth beneath it.
- Flour the surface and roll out the dough with a rolling pin until the size and thickness of a large pizza pie. Take canola oil and oil the entire top surface of the dough.Leave for 15 minutes.
- Start to place your hands under the oiled dough and stretch the dough out, beginning from the center and making sure all sides to the edges are nearly equally thin, so thin you can see through it.
- Twist the length around itself and tuck in the end underneath. Keep going with other coiled lengths, making as many Bureks as your dough will allow.*As far as fillings go, the sky is the limit to us. Our Turkish canoli flavor has Turkish apricots, nuts and sweet cheese. I created a Rosemary-Red Wine Steak version of Burek based on a Dalmatian recipe.
- Some work, some don't. We are on a Burek journey, and cannot wait to provide our Bureks, part traditional, part modern, part illegal, part elevated flavors, to you.More details to follow, but for now, enjoy this photographic Burek journey of a Croatian American Dalmatinka in Brooklyn, and her Turkish-French/Armenian beau.Long live the Burek.
