Lachmangine by Chef Avi of Avi's Kosher Kitchen

I remember clearly the first time I had a lachmacine. I was at a friend’s channukah ha biat (House Dedication). There were hordorves being passed around and lachmagine was one of them. I think I actually ate an entire tray of them that night. After that I was hooked.

The only problem was good lachmagine is hard to come by. I would search for them all over. And finding ones that were fresh and affordable was always a challenge. So I did what any good cook would do . . . I figured out how to make them. And because I have, you don’t . . . have to . . . figure out how to make them . . . that is. But once you do make them I promise you it won’t be your last time.

What You Need:

• 1 lb. KOL Foods chopped meat
• 1 finely diced onion
• 1 Tbs of Tamarind paste
• 1 Tbs of Date paste
• ¼ cup of my Bourbon BBQ Sauce. (You can also use ketchup or tomato paste)
• ½ tsp of salt
• ½ tsp of Granulated Garlic
• a Touch of Cinnamon
• ½ Touch of Cardamom

Lachmagine Dough (Masa):

• 5 cups of four
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of oil
• 1 tsp. Salt
• I onion diced
• (Optional fresh herbs)

What You Do:

In a food processor with the mince blade on, mince up the onion. Then add the tamarind paste and the date paste along with the bourbon BBQ sauce. Process until you have a thin paste and everything’s mixed well.

In a mixing bowl add the meat, salt, granulated garlic, cinnamon, cardamom and the paste from your food processor. You want to get every last bit of that paste. Now gently mix in al into the meat by hand. Be careful not to mash the meat too heavy. Once mixed, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it fester in the refrigerator for about two hours.

Meanwhile, you can make the masa or dough for the lachmagines. It’s real simple:

Combine the water, oil and salt in a pot and heat until tepid and the ingredients have mixed well. Then simply add to the four in a stand mixer and let the mixer do the work until dough is formed. The dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen or refrigerated. (This dough also works great for shwarma and for Turkish burekas)

After about two hours have passed, roll out flat rounds from your dough using golf ball sized balls of dough. I like to do this by hand and keep them a bit rustic, but you can use a rolling pin and a round dough cutter to make them all uniform. Once formed, lay out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Scoop out enough of the meat mixture to almost cover a round of dough. Leave a little edge of exposed dough. Gently press the meat into the raw dough so that it adheres together. Then bake in a 400-degree oven until the meat is cooked and the edges of the dough are browned.

I like to serve these with a little of my herbed tahini and a small piece of mango on top. Then I like a small lemon wedge along side so that you can squeeze a touch of fresh lemon juice on top just before eating.

Be careful tough. These lachmagines are habit forming and you just may find yourself getting up late at night, just to make a batch.

L’Chaim . . . Avi