Churak\choereg is absolutely my favorite bread/pastry to make. In my country, Iraq, this kind of bread is sold in almost all bakery shops and can be found being sold in streets by street hawkers.
It's a sweet bread topped with sesame seeds and served with tea as an afternoon snack (Asrunia).
sometimes Churak stuffed with dates paste ( pressed dates) and sometimes with
halkum/Turkish delight.
I have habit recently (or whatever it's called) that I google Iraqi recipes to do a little research about that recipe and what it's origins. So I googled Churak/Choereg and here is what I found out.
Iraqi Churak has a very similar version of it ( if not the same) in Armenia and it has the same name ( Choereg) and it's a traditional Armenian sweet bread that usually made for Easter time.
When I got married and moved to US, few years ago, I've looked everywhere for this bread but I was unlucky, I couldn't find it anywhere so I decided to learn to make my own Choereg.
And the journey of finding the right recipe starts. I've tried several recipe and none of them worked for me for several reasons until I found the right one.
I've made this recipe so many times, several times a year. And now I decided to share it with you.
This recipe doesn't need any special ingredient, only cardamom which is it optional and you can skip it.
Start preparing your ingredients all in your table and first pour yeast in quarter cup off lukewarm water with one tbsp of sugar mix it, cover it and sit a side while you preparing other ingredients.
I like to do this step instead of just pouring yeast with other ingredients, because in this way I can test the yeast if it's good or not. Yes it happened with me before and the yeast wasn't working and I had to throw the bread I made.
I like to gather all my ingredients in stand mixer bowl, pour everything in that bowl except milk.
then add yeast and start adding milk gradually.
transform the dough to a greased large bowl, kneed it a little and form a ball.
Cover it with plastic wrap and kitchen towel and place it in warm place. I like to place mine in the oven with oven light on to make the oven warmer. sometimes I turn my oven on on lowest degree while I'n preparing my ingredients only for 5 to 10 minute and leave oven door slightly open while preparing the dough if I feel it was too warm.
45 minutes later your dough should be doubled in size, if not leave it for 20-30 minutes more.
Place the dough on the table, I like to use my wooden cutting board or this lazy Susan ( shown in pictures). This dough doesn't need to be on floured surface, plus the flour will prevent churak from sticking to it self.
divide the dough into even balls ( the size you like or prefer ) then roll each ball into long ropes using your hands.
Coil each rope around itself to make a snail like shape. and place pieces into a baking sheet lined with baking paper, leave about 2-3 inches in between. cover them and let them rest while you preheat your oven to 350f or 180c.
In a small bowl beat egg yolk, brush them and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or when turns golden, remove from oven and let it cool slightly and serve warm with a cup of tea.
Store churak in an airtight containers for about a week in room temperature or in the freezer for few months.
Churak RecipeIngredients:
-
3 cups all-Purpose flour
-
1\2 cup granulated sugar
-
1\2 cup lukewarm milk
- 1\4 cup lukewarm water
- 1\3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
for topping:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
Directions:
- In a small bowl or glass of water add lukewarm water, 1 tbsp of sugar, and yeast, stir, cover and sit aside for 5-10 minutes or until double in size.
- In a large bowl add all other ingredients except milk.
- Add yeast to other ingredients and start mixing for 1 minute ( if using stand mixer, and a little more if by hand).
- Add milk gradually and keep mixing, keep mixing until it form a slightly sticky dough.
- Place it into a greased large bowl, knead it by hand for few minutes and form into a ball. cover it with a plastic wrap and a towel and sit it in a warm place for 45-60 minutes to rise or until it double in size.
- After it doubled in size, place the dough into a floured surface and divide it into even balls about 2 inches each ( it depends on how big/large you want your Churak pieces).
- Cover the balls with towel and start with the first ball you formed, roll each ball into ropes and coil each rope around itself ( to look like a snail ).
- Place them into a greased baking sheet, cover and sit it to rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350f or 180c.
- Brush the pieces with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle sesame seeds over.
- Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes.
- Let it cool slightly, and served warm with a cup of tea.
