Tamriyeh is a Palestinian classic dessert, semolina pudding stuffed dough parcels that are fried and dusted with powdered sugar and pistachios. SO GOOD!
What is Tamriyeh?
It’s a traditional Palestinian dessert, specifically from the region of Nablus. Nablus is also famous for some other insanely good Middle Eastern desserts, like one of my favorites ever- kunafa. It’s usually made from a dough that consists of just a few ingredients but is stretched very thinly. The dough is then stuffed with a semolina pudding, sealed, and fried until golden brown and crispy.
Why should I make this recipe?
There’s nothing like biting into a crisp golden exterior into a rich orange water and rose water blossom scented semolina pudding. It’s so good!
Using ready made phyllo dough like I did here is a total hack, making it so much easier to prepare the fritter.
The recipe isn’t overly sweet, and you can enhance the sweetness by sprinkling a lot of powdered sugar on top of the finished tamriyeh, like I do.
This is perfect for Ramadan or any other festive occasion, the recipe makes enough for a crowd and is so memorable.
What ingredients do I need to make this:
For the filling:
Coarse Semolina
Water
Sugar
Mastic Gum (optional, but if you can find it use it)- this comes in really hard little granules. You need to crush them before adding to a recipe. It’s a lot easier if you add a pinch of sugar to the mastic gum granules before crushing, either with a mortar and pestle, or just by adding mastic gum and sugar in a small plastic bag and rolling over with a rolling pin.
Orange Blossom Water
Rose Water
To Assemble:
Phyllo Dough, thawed
Flour and water (just a little bit of each, used for sealing the dough so it doesn’t open up when frying)
Vegetable Oil for frying
How to make the semolina pudding for the filling:
In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the water, sugar, and semolina. Keep whisking, the mixture will keep thickening until it becomes a custard like consistency.
Once it has thickened, remove from the heat and whisk in the mastic gum, orange blossom and rose water. Pour the pudding into a lightly greased pan, keep at room temperature to cool for 30 minutes or so, and refrigerate until set, an hour or so.
How to work with phyllo dough:
The phyllo dough should be thawed, but still cool. I’d recommend thawing for overnight in the fridge (in the closed box), but I thawed mine for a few hours before using and it still worked out great.
Filo dough dries out very quickly, so while assembling, lay a damp kitchen towel over the opened pack of dough.
Don’t panic if your dough tears. You should have plenty of extra sheets to the ratio of filling. Just cut out your rectangle from another portion of the dough.
Assembling the tamriyeh:
Once the pudding has set, use a sharp knife and cut it into even sized squares, about 2 inches by 2 inches give or take.
Cut the phyllo dough into squares, and stack two squares on top of each other so that each is 2 sheets thick (watch the video to see me do this). Place a semolina square in the center of the phyllo square and wrap the phyllo around it evenly, sealing shut with some flour/water paste. Press down gently on the center of the sealed pastry to spread the pudding out a little so that it evenly fills the square.
Repeat until all the semolina pudding has been used up.
Frying the tamriyeh:
Add a few inches of vegetable oil to a deep skillet and heat on medium high heat until very hot. Carefully add the tamriyeh, a few at a time, but avoid overcrowding. Fry 1-2 minutes a side until golden brown and crisp on the outside, then immediately remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain some of the excess oil. You might want to blot some of the oil from the top of the tamiryeh too.
What to garnish with:
Lots of powdered sugar, and pistachio powder. These will add lots of flavor as well as a beautiful look. Enjoy hot, these are best fresh.
Tamriyeh is best enjoyed hot and fresh, so the dough is still crunchy and crisp. SO GOOD!
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Tamriyeh
Ingredients
For the semolina filling:
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup coarse semolina
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp mastic gum crushed with an extra teaspoon of sugar crush by pounding the mastic and sugar together with a mortar and pestle or placing in a small sandwich bag and rolling over them with a rolling pin* optional but if you can find it use it!
- 1 tbsp orange blossom water
- 1 tbsp rose water
To assemble:
- 1 pack phyllo dough, thawed 16oz or 450 g
- 1 tbsp flour mixed with 2 tsp of water for sealing the dough
- vegetable oil for frying
To garnish:
- powdered sugar
- pistachio powder
Instructions
For the semolina filling:
- Mix together the water, sugar and semolina in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly. Once the water is just about to boil, the mixture will thicken into a custard like consistency. Remove from the heat, and mix in the mastic gum, the orange blossom and the rose water.
- Lightly grease a 9×13 inch pan with vegetable oil, and pour the semolina mixture into the pan. Smooth out to make an even layer. Let it cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then in the fridge for a further hour until set like jello.
- After semolina has set, use a sharp knife, and cut semolina pudding into even size segments about 2 inches by 2 inches in the pan. You'll get around 24 segments.
To assemble:
- Unroll the thawed phyllo dough, keeping the dough you aren't using covered so it doesn't dry out. Fold each rectangle of phyllo in half, and cut this rectangle in half, so that you have squares of phyllo that are two sheets thick.
- Place a square of semolina pudding in the center of the filo dough square, and wrap the edges of the dough around the semolina like you are wrapping a present. Seal the edges with a little flour mixed with water to form a glue that will keep them from opening up while frying. Press down gently on this parcel to distribute the semolina inside, and repeat with the remainder of the filling.
- Heat enough oil to fill a deep skillet about 1-2 inches over medium high heat. Once very hot, add as many tamriyeh as you can without overcrowding the pan. Fry 1-2 minutes a side until golden brown, then remove to a paper towel lined plate to absorb some of the excess oil.
- Garnish fried tamriyeh with powdered sugar and pistachio powder. Enjoy hot!
thank you I have been waiting for this with endless cravings for tamreya ,, I thought ppl used the normal sambosa wraps as we make them into triangles instead
Oh I’ve never seen triangle tamriyeh!! Interesting !