Imqaret

Ingredients

• Flour500 g
• Margarine or lard180 g
• Cold water120 ml
• Dates — pitted600 g
• Aniseed2 tsp
• Orange zest1
• Lemon zest1
• Anise liqueur40 ml
• Oil for frying800 ml
• Salt1 pinch

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Chop the dates and put them in a pan with the zests, aniseed and liqueur.

   20 min

2. 2

   Cook the filling over a low heat for twenty minutes, to a thick even paste.

   22 min

3. 3

   Cool the filling completely; warm, it tears the pastry as you wrap it.

   30 min

4. 4

   Cut the margarine into the flour with salt to a crumb and bring the dough together with cold water.

   15 min

5. 5

   Roll the dough into a long strip twelve centimetres wide.

   15 min

6. 6

   Lay a rope of the date paste down the centre, fold the edges over and press the seam.

   15 min

7. 7

   Cut it on the diagonal into diamonds and fry them at 180 °C, two minutes a side.

   35 min

About the dish

The filling is cooked with aniseed and zest to a thick paste. A runny one escapes through the seam into the oil and makes the fryer foam.

The pastry is made with margarine or lard rather than butter. It has to stay crisp after frying, and butter softens.

The diamonds fry at 180 degrees and are served hot. A cooled imqaret goes damp inside from its own filling within half an hour.

Worth knowing

• — Fry them seam side down. Facing up, the seam opens under steam and the filling runs into the oil.
• — Keep the pastry cold right up to frying. Warm, it goes soft and the diamonds lose their shape in the oil.
• — On Malta imqaret are sold hot from street stalls with a scoop of ice cream. That is the local serving rather than a restaurant invention.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

420 kcal

Protein

5 g

Fat

18 g

Carbs

62 g

More from Malta

• Maltese rabbit stew — Rabbit stewed in red wine with garlic and bay. The national dish of Malta.
• Pastizzi — Flaky pastries filled with ricotta or mushy peas. Maltese street food on every corner.
• Lampuki pie — The Maltese pie of dorado with spinach, olives and cauliflower.