Ramadan 2015, Day 13 – Arabic Pancakes

Every Ramadan a well-known bakery in Doha sets up a small tented area in front of the shop.

It’s to make kataif (ka-ta-if), also known as atayif, a traditional Arabic pancake. They’ve set up a huge grill outside to make them.

It was needed too as the place was pretty busy with people pulling up to buy kataif for iftar.

Here’s what I got, all of this cost QAR 20 (around US$5.40).

Unlike a North American pancake you only grill one side, the batter should be light enough that the other side can cook through all the bubbles/holes formed while the one side cooks, it makes it easier to stick it together. Most people then put a filling on the ungrilled side, such as cheese or a sweet filling and stick the kataif together, at which point it looks somewhat like a perogi. It might be cooked more afterwards but not always.

But you can also eat them like you would eat pancakes, and I have just the thing for them:

The perfect thing for a Canada Day iftar. Happy Canada Day everyone!