Simit

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Anne-Marie B on

I had fun making these. Could not get hold of Grape Molasses to dip the rings in, so I used Pomegranate Molasses. It is a bit tangy and worked very well. Only the slightest hint of flavour and sweetness was detectable, making it both a good brekky snack with coffee or a midday snack with brie cheese.

 

 

 

 

Are they chewy like bagels? What is pomegranate molasses? First time to hear a new ingredient. I thought simit are just dipped in sugarcane molasses. They look so tasty!

Pomegranate molasses is a common ingredient in middle eastern cooking.  It is very thick, with an alluring sweet aroma, and a wonderful and complex taste.  It is a main ingredient in grenadine made from scratch, along with sugar and free squeezed pomegranate juice (so messy, but so much fun) and a couple drops of orange flower water.  I use the grenadine for cocktails and just to pour over vanilla ice cream.

Grenadine is widely available here for mocktails so I thick that will do if I plan to make simit.

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Filomatic on Sat, 05/07/2016 - 08:08

Let me clarify - don't use grenadine for this bread. I'm only pointing out some uses for pomegranate molasses. Not to mention that store bought grenadine is made with phony ingredients. 

Pomegranate molasses is just concentrated pomegranate juice, about as runny as maple syrup. It is commonly available here, whereas I could not find grape molasses (required in my recipe) anywhere.

My recipe is similar to the link that dabrownman posted above, with the following differences/additions:

1. It also added 2 1/2 tablespoons thickened or sour cream - I used sour cream - to the dough. The sour cream and 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 teaspoons castor sugar was mixed into the water before adding it to the flour. If using fresh yeast, it was added first and left to foam - I used instant yeast in the dry mix.

2. After rising, I deflated the dough and cut it into 10 balls and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then cut and rolled each ball into two ropes which I gently wound around each other.

3. While the oven was heating to 220 C - with fan - I dipped the rings in the pomegranate mix and then into a bowl of sesame seeds. My recipe for the syrup is as follows: 100ml of grape/pomegranate molasses, 100 ml water and a half teaspoon salt mixed. I did not toast the seeds as in the recipe in the link above and turned the rings over so they were completely covered in seeds on both sides. I placed them on the tray on baking paper and baked them immediately for about 20-25 minutes till they looked nice and golden.

4. They are not as chewy as bagels, have a nice cripsy crust and the two layers pull apart nicely when you break them.

Happy baking gentlemen!

make your own grape molasses?

If pomegranate molasses is merely concentrated pomegranate juice, I would imagine that you could do a reduction of a good quality grape juice on the stovetop until you  got it down to the desired consistency.

I really don't know. Grape molasses is called Pekmez and I don't know what the ingredients are. The pomegranate molasses I purchased stated the ingredients as concentrated pomegranate juice and citric acid. I am sure anything homemade would do as well and probably be more tasty. I will try out filomatic's recipe above soon.

I really want to try these.  My thanks to you (and dabrownman) for the info :)

I thought I'd let you know that I did make these eventually.  They are really tasty and just as Anne-Marie B described :)  I used the link that dabrownman posted for the recipe :)

The hardest part was rolling and twisting the dough, I think I need a little more practice!