Balah El Sham ( Fried Choux Pastry )

Balah El Sham is a delicious fried choux pastry that is soaked in heavy sugar syrup. They are super crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. These Arabic Mini Churros are made with butter, flour, eggs, and vanilla. Balah El Sham is a versatile dessert as it can be stuffed with different types of fillings like whipped cream, chocolate or can simply be sprinkled with minced nuts. If you have a sweet tooth, this delicious dish will definitely satisfy all your cravings.

Where was Balah El Sham originated from?

Balah El Sham in Arabic means “Levant Dates”, as it has the same shape of dates. Balah El Sham was originated from the Levant Area and is specially made during Ramadan.

This dish is also popular in European countries and is similar to the famous churros, but they dunk in a sugar syrup instead of sprinkled cinnamon sugar. Balah El Sham can also be made with a lot of stuffings like whipped cream, chocolate or nuts like pastry cream.

Why this recipe works?

This crunchy, delicious Balah El Sham is the yummiest pastry recipe ever. The warm pastry is drowned in the sugar syrup, making this dish delicious and divine. This recipe is versatile as you can dip the fried churros with a lot of different options such as melted chocolate, nuts or salted caramel.
You may think it is difficult to make this choux pastry, but when you follow the instructions perfectly, you will find this recipe so simple.

Ingredients:

• All-purpose flour: Measure the flour well to have the best result.
• Salt: Make sure to use salt for this recipe as we use unsalted butter.
• Water: Use the right amount of water to combine the dough.
• Butter: This recipe uses unsalted butter.
• Eggs: Add eggs to make the dough softer. It helps create the crispy outer layer and provides flavour.
• Vanilla extract: It adds a subtle flavour to the dish.
• Vegetable oil: For frying the choux pastry.
• Topping: You may use any type of nuts based on your preference. This recipe uses pistachio.

For the syrup:

• Water: Add the right amount of water to the syrup.
• Glucose syrup: The glucose thickens and retains the moisture in the syrup.
• Granulated sugar: You may use granulated sugar, vanilla sugar or organic cane sugar.
• Lemon juice: The lemon juice prevents crystals from forming in the syrup.

How to make the syrup?

In a saucepan, add sugar, water, lemon juice and glucose syrup over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and let the mixture simmer for 8-10 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it cool down.

How to make Balah El Sham?

• In a pot or large saucepan, mix butter and water over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
• Sift flour and salt. Add the sifted flour to the water mixture, stir vigorously for 1 minute until the mixture comes together in one big ball. Then, turn off the heat and let it cool down for 5-10 minutes.
• Next, add vanilla extract and the eggs (one by one) until the dough is soft.

Frying the dough:

• Heat the oil in a large pot or saucepan. In the meanwhile, add the dough to a piping bag with a star nozzle.
• Once the oil is heated, pip the dough into the oil (about 2-3 inches) and fry until golden brown (about 1-2 minutes). Drain on a paper towel.
• Appling the syrup: While still hot, dip Balah El Sham in the syrup or just drizzle the syrup over it.
• Arrange one serving plate, then sprinkle some pistachio on the top.

Top Tips

• It is best to consume these fried choux pastries within 6 hours of frying them, so you can have them while they’re crispy.
• Fry Balah El Sham in low-temperature oil to get the perfectly shaped pastries.
• Before you fry the second batch of the pastry, let the oil cool down as the pastry fries better in low heat. The longer you leave them frying, the crunchier your pastry will be.
• You may use oil instead of butter, and it still tastes great, but butter brings out a great flavour.
• If you want softer Balah El Sham, reduce the quantity of the flour.
• The pastry is best served as soon as it is fried and drowned in the syrup.
• Once you achieve the golden brown colour, take them out in a slotted spoon and place them in the cooled sugar syrup. Also, make sure to not touch the pastry until it comes up to the oil surface.
• If you are using salted butter, make sure to not use salt in the recipe.

Recipe Variations

• You can pair up the choux pastry with other classic syrups such as caramel syrup, honey or chocolate syrup.
• Balah El Sham can also be stuffed with whipping cream, custard, cheese, chocolate, fruits or nuts.

Serving Suggestions

• This choux pastry is versatile, and you can serve it topped with a variety of nuts based on your choice.
• You can also dip them in chocolate, caramel sauce or sprinkle cinnamon sugar. If you don’t prefer too much sweet, you can drizzle some honey or powdered sugar over the pastry.
• You may also serve this dessert with sweet bread, honey cakes or sweetmeats.

Recipe FAQs

How to freeze the Balah El Sham dough?

You can pipe the dough in a baking sheet and freeze it. Once it is fully frozen, you can place it in a bag for up to 2 months.

How to store the choux pastry?

Keep them in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days. It is best to store the dough than the pastry itself as they lose their crunch.

What should I do when my dough is too runny?

The dough may be runny because you may have added too many eggs. Make another batch without the eggs and then combine them both.

How to find out if my dough is in the right consistency?

After you’re done mixing the eggs with the flour, pull a spoon off the dough, and it should form a hook. If it hasn’t, add an extra egg.

Why do the pastries turn out to be flat?

Your pastries are flat because you fried them in high temperature boiling oil. When you fry them at such a high temperature, the pastry turns to be in an irregular shape, less puffy and flat. All you have to do is to fry them in cool or warm oil, which would take extra time to cook, but fries to perfection.

Arabic Desserts

• Om ali – egyptian bread pudding recipe
• Sahlab (mediterranean milk pudding)
• Greek custard pie with syrup (Galaktoboureko)

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