This is a traditional Maltese sweet street-food of Arabic origins. It is a deep-fried pastry bundle filled with spiced date paste. The characteristic of this delicious sweet is the intense scent of aniseed it releases when it is deep-fried. The name refers to the Maltese word for diamond (maqrut), because of its shape.
In Malta it is usual served aside a scoop of vanilla ice cream or with salted caramel.
They are really delicious. A must try! 😉
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 200 gwhite flour type 0
- 100 mltable water (about half a glass)
- 50 gorganic lard (or pure butter)
- 1 spoonaniseed whole
- 1 spoonicing sugar
- 1 teaspoonbaking soda
For the filling
- 200 gnatural unsweetened date
- 5 spoonstable water
- 1 spoonaniseed liquor
- 1 spoonorange blossom water
- 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoonground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoonground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoonground ginger
- 1orange (zest only)
- 1lemon (zest only)
- 1tangerine (zest only)
Preparation
For the pastry
– put the icing sugar and the aniseed whole into a blender and reduce them to dust, then transfer them onto a large bowl;
– pour the sifted flour and baking soda onto it, add the lard and mix well with your hands;
– add the water and knead well till you get a smooth dough;
– cover the dough with cling film or a kitchen towel, and keep it away from air draft for at least 60 minutes;
For the filling
– chop the dates and put them into a sauce pan;
– add the grated citrus zests, the spices and the liquids;
– put the saucepan onto the stove on a medium heat;
– stir till all ingredients amalgamate and you get a smooth spreadable paste;
– remove the saucepan from the stove and allow to cool down;
To assemble the imqaret
– roll out the pastry into a shape of a rectangle by using a rolling pin, and till it reaches a thickness of about 2 mm;
– spread the date paste on the bottom end of the rectangle;
– flip the other edge to cover the filling and seal the ends;
– use a sharp knife to cut 5cm long diamonds from the pastry log;
– each diamond will be sealed but open on the sides to show the filling;
– deep fry the imqaret 1 minute per side;
– serve warm and aside a scoop of vanilla ice cream or with salted caramel;
P.S. Alternatively, you can bake the imqaret at 180 degrees for about 15/20 minutes (just brush them with some butter before baking them). However, texture and flavour will change a bit from the traditional deep-fried ones.
