It is almost impossible to say that you have visited Turkey if you have not heard a simit vendor (a simitçi) loudly announcing this famous Turkish bread (similar to bagel) in the street at least once, and it would be wrong to leave the country without trying it. The simit is shaped like a doughnut and decorated with lots of sesame seeds. In some parts of Turkey, especially in İzmir, simit is known as “gevrek”.
Turks eat simit at almost any time, alone or with tea, but it is an almost essential part of a good Turkish breakfast, which is why simitçi advertise it early in the morning: it is usually eaten with beyaz peynir (Turkish white cheese), olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, börek and so on. A good freshly made simit will be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
Ingredients (for 6-8 persons)
For the dough:
- 500 g of plain flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- half a glass of warm water
To prepare the yeast:
- 25 g of fresh yeast (better the one sold in bakeries than the one in a sachet).
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- half a glass of warm water
To add to the simit:
- 1 tablespoon of molasses (or honey, if you don’t have any)
- half a glass of warm water
- sesame seeds
Preparation
Dilute the sugar in a glass of warm water, and then the yeast, leaving it to stand for about 5 minutes. Then pour the flour mixed with the salt into a bowl and gradually add and stir the mixture of water, sugar and yeast that you made before. Mix everything well and knead for about 15 minutes until the dough is homogeneous and elastic, then cover it with a cloth and leave it to rest for about half an hour.
After this time, place the dough on a floured surface and knead it a little to remove any air that may have formed. Make several balls (each about the size of a fist, so that you get between 6 and 8 balls), and cover them again, leaving them to rest for half an hour. Then make a strip of each ball, not too thick, and put them aside.
Turn on the oven and preheat it to 200 ºC. Meanwhile, place the sesame seeds in a bowl and in a separate bowl pour half a glass of lukewarm water and dissolve the molasses or honey in it, and pass each of the strips you have made first through the molasses and then through the sesame seeds, as if you were coating them. Make sure that the molasses is not too diluted in the water so that the seeds hold together well. Then join the strips together at the ends to give them a round shape, stretching them so that they are not too thick and the hole is large, and twisting them a little when joining them together, so that the appearance of the simit bread is more authentic.
Prepare a tray with baking paper and place the simit on it, making sure that they do not touch each other (bear in mind that the dough expands). Place the simit on the tray in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until they are crispy and golden brown on the outside.
And that’s it! Now you can go out into the street and announce… ‘Simit, simiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!’
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Funda is a master of Turkish cuisine. Her cooking skills have led her to participate in all kinds of contests and competitions, and she has won numerous awards for her recipes. If you try one of her dishes… Say goodbye to your diet!
