FLIJA
Traditional Albanian Layered Pancake Dish
Whenever I travel, I try to pick things on the menu that I’ve never tried before, especially when it’s a traditional dish. My love for Albanian flija came from one of these moments in Theth and I’ve been obsessed ever since.
Flija is traditionally cooked using a metal pan lid called a saç, that is heated over an outdoor fire and then placed on top of the cooking pan to heat the layers one by one.
You must be warned this isn’t a quick recipe; It takes a steady hand, the perseverance to cook over the hot wood and the patience to work every layer of the dish until it’s complete. Time consuming as it is, there is something beautiful about the labour involved in cooking flija and the history you celebrate as it’s being prepared.
The best way to describe this dish is that it’s like lots of layers of pancakes, brought together by cooking each layer one by one using the heat from the saç. It is usually served with yoghurt or cheese but can also be served sweet with jam or honey.
At home, especially in the UK, there aren’t many of us who are fortunate to have the space to construct an outdoor fire and finding a traditional saç pan outside of Albania is almost impossible. The good news is, you can use the grill setting on your oven to cook this too! As long as the flija is cooked under heat with this, you’re good to go!
Equipment:
You will need either a traditional Albanian saç pan, that you can heat over a wood-burning fire; or use the grill setting on your oven.
You will also need a large, metal circular cooking tray (around 40cm size)
I recommend having a silicone pastry brush for this too!
Ingredients:
2kg Plain flour
1L Water
A pinch of salt
x10 Eggs, beaten
1 cup Oil
200g butter, melted
METHOD- USING THE GRILL
Mix the flour, water and salt together in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Then whisk together the eggs, oil and butter and set aside.
While you’re heating your grill, set all of your ingredients close by and brush the oven tray with a little oil.
Place the first light layer of batter in your oven tray. (The trick to this recipe is to do many, thin, crepe-like layers so don’t be tempted to put too much batter on at once.)
Carefully place the oven tray under the grill for a few seconds until the batter is gently cooked and golden.
Remove the oven tray from the grill to add your next layer, this time you’ll be brushing over some of the egg mixture.
Return the pan back under the grill to cook the egg layer.
Repeat this process until all of the batter has been used up, cooking one layer of batter, followed by one layer of the egg mixture.
Leave the flija to cool a bit before slicing into triangles and serving warm.
METHOD- USING THE SAÇ
Mix the flour, water and salt together in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Then whisk together the eggs, oil and butter and set aside.
While you’re heating your saç lid using your fire pit or outdoor fire, set all of your ingredients close by and brush the oven tray with a little oil.
Place the first light layer of batter in your oven tray. (The trick to this recipe is to do many, thin, crepe-like layers so don’t be tempted to put too much batter on at once.)
Carefully lift the hot saç lid on top of the oven tray for a few seconds until the batter is gently cooked and golden.
Return the saç lid to the heat while you prepare your next layer, this time you’ll be brushing over some of the egg mixture. Then hold the saç lid over the tray again to cook this layer.
Repeat this process until all of the batter has been used up, cooking one layer of batter, followed by one layer of the egg mixture.
Leave the flija to cool a bit before slicing into triangles and serving warm.