Ingredients for Tunisian Brik
For the potato filling:
- 2 large potatoes unpeeled
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped
- Salt
For the egg filling:
- 4 eggs
For the brik:
- 4 phyllo dough sheets
- oil for deep frying
- Salt (optional)
Instructions
Preparing Potato-filled Tunisian brik:
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1. cook the potatoes, peel them while still warm, and mash until creamy. Add the olive oil and chopped parsley, mix and season with salt and pepper.
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2. Spread out one of the phyllo dough sheets on your work surface. Place two tablespoons of the filling in the middle and fold the sheet in two, forming a dumpling. Gently pinch the top together to seal it. Repeat the process with the remaining phyllo dough sheets.
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3. Heat some oil for deep frying. Fry each dumpling on both sides until golden brown. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, lift the brik out of the pot, allowing the excess oil to drip back into the pot. Place the fried dumplings on towel paper for a few seconds and serve hot.
Preparing Egg brik:
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4. heat some oil for deep frying.
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5. Crack each egg in a bowl, making sure to keep the yolk intact.
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6. Take one of the phyllo dough sheets and dip half of it into the hot oil. Wait 5 seconds for the dough to set, pour one egg on the middle of the sheet, salt to taste, and fold the other half of the sheet over the egg. Fry one side of the dumpling in the oil until golden brown, turn it over and fry the other side until golden brown. Using tongs or two forks, lift the brik out of the pot, allowing the excess oil to drip back into the pot.
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7. Place the fried dumplings on towel paper for a few seconds and serve immediately.
Use the same method to make:
• Potato and eggplant-filled briks (the Iraqi version, reminiscent of sabich): mash one cooked potato. Roast a whole eggplant over a gas stove flame or in the oven, let it cool down and remove the meat. Add the eggplant meat to the mashed potato and mix thoroughly. Coarsely grate 2 hard-boiled eggs and add them to the mixture, seasoning with salt and pepper. Fill the phyllo dough sheets with the mixture, fry them in the same manner described above, and serve with tahini sauce and amba (a pickled mango sauce).
• Lox and cream cheese-filled briks: spread a tablespoon of cream cheese over half of the brik sheet, followed by a slice of lox. Spread another tablespoon of cream cheese over the lox, fold the brik sheet over the filling and pinch the edges together. Fry in the same manner as described above. Repeat the process with the remaining phyllo dough sheets.
• Cheburek – Georgian meat-filled brik: for the meat filling: mix 1.1 pounds / 500 grams high-fat ground beef (you can substitute half of it with ground lamb) with a chopped onion, salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Take a tablespoon of the filling and spread a thin layer of it over one of the phyllo dough sheets (so the meat will have enough time to cook even though fried only briefly). Fill and fry the remaining phyllo dough sheets in the same manner.