Flija is one of the most favored dishes in Albanian cuisine. It takes only a few ingredients to make it, but this delicious dish depends on your baking skills so its preparation involves hard, painstaking work. For those of you who have not yet tried it, Balkon3 recommends you don’t hesitate much longer.
Flija requires very simple ingredients: flour, water, butter, yoghurt and salt. The main ingredients (flour, water and salt) are mixed together until you get a texture similar to pancake batter. Layers of batter are baked using a “sac” which is a spherical metal lid used for baking.
Ingredients:
Batter:
– 2 kg flour
– water
– salt
Filling:
– 1 margarine or butter
– 1 cup oil
– 2 tablespoons yoghurt or kaymak
Preparation:
Mix the margarine or butter, a cup of oil, two tablespoons of yogurt or kaymak in a bowl. This mixture is used as filling between two layers of batter for flija. If you are planning to bake flija on an open fire make sure you have enough space. It can be a corner of your garden or an empty space in your yard.
The most important thing during baking is to keep the “sac” at the required temperature. First, light the fire and wait until it reaches a certain temperature. Then cover the “sac” with the ash generated from the fire. The ash helps keep the heat of the “sac” and maintain the desired temperature. Grease the baking pan, then pour a layer of batter leaving triangle shaped gaps and cover the pan with the hot “sac”. After a while the first layer is baked. Put the “sac” back on the fire while you put a layer of the filling mixture and then another layer of batter in the empty spaces. Cover it with the “sac” again. It is important to put some filling on the baked layer of batter.
This process is repeated until you have run out of batter and filling mixture. If you want it to have a delicious crust, bake the last layer a bit more. Preparing flija is really hard work. However, there are no words to describe its irresistible taste. Flija is served with yoghurt or ayran.
Bon appetit!
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