When I was researching what to cook for Armenia I was drawn to many dishes including some dumplings of sorts called Manti which can be served in a variety of ways including in a mint and yogurt soup which I have tried before with tortellini. But when looking at the photos nothing looked more appealing that the Gata - photographs showed hundreds of these sweet, shiny, highly decorated flat breads stacked on top of each other. They looked mouth watering and I couldn't wait to try!
There are many versions of Gata throughout Armenia, with the decoration and the filling varying between regions; some regions use a puff pastry to make it, and it is usually filled with a mixture of flour, sugar, butter and in some regions nuts - usually walnuts. It was traditionally baked in communal ovens and the decorations served to tell who they belonged to once they were baked. It is eaten at many festivals and holidays, specially Candlemas, but is also a bread found regularly in Armenian households; on some occasions a coin is put inside and whoever get's it is said to be blessed with good luck!
I used a combination of a few recipes - some called for milk and cream, others for A LOT of butter; some proved the dough twice and others just once - I tried to find a middle ground between them and below is my recipe which is an adapted version of this one!
Makes 3 decorated or 4 undecorated.
Ingredients
For the Dough
500g flour
230g Milk
75g honey
7 g Active Dry Yeast (1 sachet)
10 g Salt
35g butter (melted)
1 large egg
For the filling If making 4, use quantities that are underlined
3 Tbsp Butter (melted) / 4Tbsp
75g sugar / 100g
60g flour / 80g
1 pinch of cardamom powder
1 pinch of cinnamon
1 tsp salt
For the egg wash
1 Egg
1/2 tbsp milk
Method
Heat 50ml of milk and 1/2tbsp of honey until lukewarm. Add the yeast to the milk and let it rest for 10 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl mix the flour, salt and honey until there is no wet honey left. If mixing by machine continue mixing and add the yeast mix, the egg and the remaining milk. If mixing my hand add the ingredients and then mix them with a wooden spoon or your hand.
Knead the dough for around 4 minutes on a machine or 15 minutes by hand, until it is smooth and elastic.
Turn the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and let it rise somewhere warm until doubled in size. This is an enriched dough so it could take up to two hours to double in size, but could also be as little as an hour.
While the dough is rising mix all of the filling ingredients, it should be a a roughly formed mix that's still slightly crumbly.
Once the dough has doubled in size invert it into a floured surface and knock the air out. Divide it into 4 pieces.
Take one piece and roll it into a circle that is about 15cm in diameter. Place a third or a quarter of the filling (depending on how many you are making) into the centre of the circle and then gather up the edges and pinch them to seal the filling. Roll into a ball, and then roll back out into a circle that is about 20cm in diameter. It is possible that you will get air bubbles while doing this, just pop them with a knife and seal the hole by pinching.
Repeat with either 2 or 3 pieces, depending on if you're making 3 or 4.
If you are only making three now roll the last piece of dough out and cut it to make decorations for your Gatas. I would recommend googling to feel inspired! Just lay strips over the Gata and tuck them underneath. Check out the photos below to see what I did.
Cover and rest for about an hour. They will rise a bit but probably won't double in size. While they rest, preheat the oven to 185C, 365F.
Mix the egg and milk in a bowl and then brush over the Gata's to egg wash. Let the egg wash sit for 1 minute and repeat.
Poke a couple of holes in the dough with a fork, to allow any steam from the filling to escape without bursting the gata.
Bake for 30 minutes and until golden to deep golden in colour.
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