mlaoui

Ingredients for about 20 Mlaoui :

* 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) of flour (see recipe for rghaif doug)

Preparation: 

Shape about 20 baIls of dough the size of a medium tangerine. Take the first ball, first oiling a corner of the table and the finger tips. Spread the dough, stretching it out lengthways and sideways to make a square of pastry as thick as a sheet of paper. Fold into 3, one side over the other,

to form an oblong about 40 cm (16”) long. Stretch this elastic ribbon of pastry lightly, rolling it out at the same time. Roll it up like a carpet, stretching it at the same time. Place this cylinger upright on the table and flatten slightly.

Prepare the other balls in the same way in the same order that they were shapped, oiling the table and finger tips often.

To cook:

Place the frying pan on a fairly hot heat, flatten the first cylinder to make a circle, the thickness of strong cardboard (2 to 3 mm, about 1/10”) and lay flat in the pan with scarcely any butter.

Cook on both sides, removing them from the pan with the help of a knife. Split the pancake through the middle to make 2 rounds, fastened together at one point. Begin the operation again until all the cylinders of pastry are cooked.

Mlaouis are generally cooked in an earthenware pan over a charcoal fire but can just as well be cooked in a thick iron pan on a gas or electric cooker over a moderate heat. Just before serving, melt about 100 g (4 oz) of butter in the pan. Quickly dip one side only of each pancake in the butter and place them one on top of the other in a dish.

Then place this pile of Mlaouis in the pan with scarcely any butter and re-heat quickly, turning them over once.
Serve hot with honey or caster sugar to taste.