Purim was the first Jewish holiday I ever experienced. As a 19-year-old volunteer on a kibbutz, I was most impressed. A holiday that involved fancy dress and copious amounts of free alcohol was a definite winner, I thought as I dyed my hair blue and shimmied the night away in the communal dining room.
Eleven years and one conversion course later, I am much less inclined to drink myself stupid. I know all about Esther and Haman, but I'm not really interested in synagogue-based celebrations. My Judaism is very much based in the home, and so my festivals are firmly rooted in the kitchen.
With Purim around the corner, my thoughts therefore turned to hamantaschen. In Israel, I used to love these crumbly, triangular pastries that came with a variety of fillings. Although I was partial to the chocolate ones, the poppy seed filling was the most authentic and also quite moreish in a sweet, gritty, floss-necessitating way.
I consulted Claudia Roden's The Book of Jewish Food, and found a recipe that seemed promising - and so I set about creating my very own hamantaschen.
It was fiddly, but not particularly difficult. The buttery pastry was fairly basic, but cooking the poppy-seed filling was odd, verging on bizarre. Mixing the tiny black seeds with milk resembled nothing as much as playing with a spade and bucket on the beach. The grey colour and the grainy scratchiness were not particularly appetizing, and it smelled like something a sparrow might have for breakfast. But don't let that put you off! The addition of sugar, honey, raisins and lemon made all the difference, and the end result was both pleasing and authentic. 
My resident life-long Jew approved, too, although he says that the hamantaschen of his native Manchester were soft and bread-like rather than crumbly. Never mind - these were a definite success. Happy Purim!
PS: Why poppy seeds? Apparently because Esther only ate seeds during her three day fast. I have my own theory, which is that there's a definite opium connection. Eat poppy seeds until you cannot tell the difference between "cursed be Haman" and "blessed be Mordecai". Why not?
Hamantaschen
For the dough:
250g plain flour
a pinch of salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 drops vanilla essence
150g unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
2-3 teaspoons milk
1 egg, for glazing
For the mohn (poppy seed) filling:
150g poppy seeds
175 ml milk
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons raisins
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter
Mix the flour with salt, sugar and vanilla. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the flour mixture until crumbly. Add the yolk, press into a soft ball. Work very briefly, adding just enough milk to bind it. Wrap in clingfilm and leave to cool in the fridge.
For the filling, put the poppy seeds and milk in a pan and simmer for 15 minutes. Add honey, sugar, raisins and butter and cook 5 more minutes.Add zest and juice, and let it cool.
Divide the dough into 4 for easier handling. Roll out until 3 mm thick, then take out 7.5 cm rounds. Fill with one heaped teaspoon of mohn, and either fold over into a half moon shape(the easier option) or shape into little, triangular hats (more authentic). Either way, leave a small hole so that the hot steam can escape when they cook. Arrange on a greased tray, brush with egg, and bake in 190 C oven for 15-20 minutes. Be careful - they break easily while they are hot.
Comments