Syrian Tea Biscuits

Ingredients

• 5 cups (half a kilo) flour
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• as desired vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons (1 packet) yeast
• 1 tablespoon mahlab
• 1/4 tablespoon fennel
• 2 tablespoons (if you like the biscuits sweeter, add 3 tablespoons of sugar) sugar
• 300 ml warm water
• a little white sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
• a little warm water
• a little nigella seeds
• 5 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. Put 5 cups of flour in a bowl.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee to the bowl and rub the ghee thoroughly into the flour in the bowl.
3. You may use vegetable oil instead of the ghee in the bowl, as desired.
4. Add 2 teaspoons of yeast to the bowl.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of mahlab to the bowl.
6. Add 1/4 tablespoon of fennel to the bowl.
7. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the bowl.
8. Mix the dry ingredients together in the bowl.
9. Gradually add the warm water to the bowl while kneading, until a firm dough forms.
10. The chef used 300 ml of warm water for the dough in the bowl.
11. Leave the dough in the oven or in a dark place for half an hour, until it rises.
12. The dough may be left in the oven or in a dark place for 45 minutes or 1 hour, until it rises.
13. Put the white sesame seeds in a separate bowl.
14. Add 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar to the bowl of sesame seeds.
15. Add a little warm water to the bowl of sesame seeds until the mixture becomes sticky.
16. Add a little nigella seeds to the bowl of sesame seeds.
17. Mix the sesame mixture in the bowl.
18. After proofing, deflate the dough in the bowl.
19. Cut the dough into pieces.
20. Coat the surface of each piece of dough with the sesame mixture.
21. Shape each piece of dough by hand until it is thin and small.
22. Arrange the biscuit pieces on a baking tray, leaving space between the pieces on the tray.
23. Place the baking tray in a lightly warm oven for half an hour so that the pieces proof quickly.
24. Bake the tray at 180°C with heat from above and below.
25. Place the baking tray on an oven rack slightly below the middle so that the heat is closer to the bottom.
26. Bake the biscuits in the oven first until they set but remain soft.
27. Lower the oven temperature from 180°C to 160°C after the first bake.
28. Continue drying the biscuits in the oven at 160°C until they become crisp and more deeply browned.
29. If the tops need more color, move the baking tray to a higher rack in the oven.
30. Remove the biscuits from the baking tray once they are toasted and crisp.