Delightful Petanik Recipe: A Taste of Albanian Tradition

Flavors of Albanian Home Cooking and Albanian Ancestral Wisdom with Flora Durmishi, Presented by Votra Inc, for Eating Albanian 

Welcome to Eating Albanian by Votra Inc! Today, Mrs. Flora Durmishi will not only demonstrate the quickest method to make her favorite dish, the flawlessly crafted petanik, but also guide us on fostering harmonious family dynamics and relationships, fulfilling the yearnings we all share.

This video radiated so much kindness, love, and warmth towards us here in Eating Albanian! ! It sparked smiles, curiosity, and imparted valuable lessons that I believe will resonate with other Albanian women and girls. 

Mrs. Flora Durmishi, despite being a grandmother, exudes the youthful energy of a young, innocent girl brimming with grace, sincerity, and pride for her ancestors, her family, and herself.

She fondly recalls her mother, an artist in the kitchen, emphasizing the importance of respecting one’s spouse and children’s desires while creating a loving and nurturing space for her grandchildren. I was so captivated by her words that I forgot to focus on the recipe being demonstrated. With all my heart, I hope that after listening to Mrs. Flora, you’ll also feel the same, as her wisdom encourages us to appreciate and love ourselves and our families even more.

Ingredients you’ll need:

For the dough:

• 1 Glass of water
• 2 tbsp oil of your choice
• 1 tsp salt
• Flour as needed depending on the kind of flour you use
• Oil for opening the dough and oiling the pan

For the filling:

• 2 pounds mixed peppers
• 2 medium-sized tomatoes
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 1 tbsp oil of your choice

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, pour the water, oil, and salt, and mix together. Add the flour and create a dough that isn’t sticky but easy to manage. Work it for a few minutes until it becomes elastic. Set aside to rest. You can even prepare the dough the night before so you have it ready the next day.
• Lay all the peppers in a baking pan and place in the oven to roast. Roasting peppers adds flavor to them. Charring the skin on the outside of the pepper brings out the sweetness by caramelizing some of the natural sugars in them and adding additional smoky flavor. It also makes it easier to remove the outer skin which can be a bit tough. After both sides of the peppers are roasted, put the peppers aside and let them rest for a few minutes.
• The next step is to cut and caramelize the onion slowly while the peppers roast in the oven. It can be any kind of onion you choose. Still marvel at Mrs. Flora cutting the onion and still smiling and talking.
• Peel the tomatoes so the skins don’t get stuck in the filling. Cut them into pieces and add them to the onions when they’re caramelized enough. Mix until the tomatoes soften. Turn off the stove.
• In the meantime, work the dough. Separate it into two parts and work each part separately to soften and round up. Open the first part of the dough into one big round sheet. Oil the surface for easier handling with your favorite oil. With a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into triangle shapes, from the sides to the middle without closing in. It looks like an Etruscan sun right out of a book from Votra Inc. Then turn those triangle shaped parts and fold on top of each other, by bringing them in the middle and creating another circle of dough. Open it up with your hands a few more inches and place it aside. Do the same with the other part of the dough. Open it up as much as you can, cut into triangles, oil the surface, and then turn the triangles in. Open it a few more inches. Place it aside to rest.
• Remove the peppers and let them sweat and cool for a few minutes for easier removal of the skin. When cool enough, remove the skin and separate the soft texture of the inside of the peppers. Add it to the onion and tomato mixture and mix thoroughly together until well incorporated. Add salt. Flora tells for Eating Albanian that she doesn’t usually measure the ingredients because her lifetime of cooking has given her the flexibility and the knowledge she needs, that’s why you should check your own oven and tastes for how you like the foods also.
• Oil the baking with your favorite oil. Votra Inc. suggests extra virgin olive oil made from the olives of Berati, or sunflower oil.
• Add the first layer and open with your hands until it covers the whole pan. Pour onion and the peppers mixture on top and open it so it evenly covers the dough. Then add the other layer of dough on top of the mixture and open it up so you can cover the whole pan. Close the sides as neatly as you can. That part will be a favorite because it’s crispy and at the same time it has the taste and smell of the filling. Very satisfying!
• Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes until petaniku gets crispy and has a reddish color on top. When out of the oven, cover it with a bar towel for a few minutes and then cut it! Enjoy petaniku warm with milk or yogurt.

Join us at Eating Albanian as we explore the art of creating flawlessly made delicacies alongside cultivating the bonds that enrich our lives. Let Mrs. Flora be your guide to culinary mastery and familial bliss, portraying not only Albanian cuisine but also the real Albanian woman.

Thank you for joining us, Flora! It was a great pleasure listening to you and seeing you in the kitchen. We hope that you enjoyed being on the other side of the table as much as you enjoy being a journalist at Radio Kosova!