Dachtilies (Finger-Shaped Bread Rings)

2022, June, Theletra. I am in this beautiful village in the Paphos district. During the filming of the state television cooking show, I meet Mrs. Androula Tryfonos, a very sweet lady, 74 years old. She greets me warmly and shakes my hand with love. “I saw you, my child, and I remembered you said on your show that you want to learn how we shape the daisy-shaped bread ring (koulouri margarita)”. Yes, I said, I tell her, and I am surprised she remembered it. “You said you want to learn about the koumoulies too, or as you call them in the capital, the dachtilies (finger-shaped)”. Do you want me to show you, my child?”. And of course I want to. Her offer moves me. Just as the people who are willing to share the secrets of our tradition and culture with us move me every time. I am like a little child from my joy. She gets teary-eyed, she feels that this “teaching” is more than just a recipe. It is a tradition passed from one generation to the next and kept alive over time. I soak up her every word, her every move. And of course, while she is teaching me the recipe, I think to myself how I will be forever grateful to her…

Ingredients

• 2 and 2/3 cup Lukewarm water (670gr.)
• 1 Packet (11gr.) dry yeast
• 1 tsp Aniseed (5gr.)
• ½ tsp Mastic seeds (2gr.)
• 1 Heaping teaspoon (2gr.) mahlab seeds (mechlepi)
• 1 tsp Sugar (5gr.)
• 5 cup Hard flour (Village Flour) (750gr.)
• 2 cup Soft flour (“00” Flour) (300gr.)
• 1 ½ tsp Salt (12gr.)
• A pinch of ground cinnamon
• A pinch of ground clove

For the coating:

• 1 cup Sesame seeds (150gr.)
• ½ tsp Aniseed (2 gr.)
• 1 tbsp Nigella seeds (Mavrokokko) (10gr.)

Method

1. For the coating: Put plenty of water in a saucepan and add the sesame seeds. Boil for 3 - 4 minutes. Rinse with plenty of cold water. Strain and spread on a towel. Add the aniseed and nigella seeds. Mix well and cover with the towel to keep it moist.
2. For the kneading: Pour ½ cup of water (lukewarm) into a bowl and add the yeast. Stir and set aside for 20 minutes to rise. Put the aniseed in a mortar and coarsely grind it. Put the mastic, mahlab, and sugar in the mortar and pound until they become powder. In a large bowl or the mixer bowl, put the 2 types of flour and add the ground mahlab, mastic, aniseed, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir and add the yeast and the remaining water. Knead with the hook attachment in the mixer for 5 minutes or by hand for 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl. Score a cross in the middle of its surface and cover it with plastic wrap or a towel. Set aside to rise for about 1 hour. Take the risen dough and knead it again. Cut it into 3 pieces to form 3 dachtilies (finger shapes). Take 1 piece and roll it out into a large thick log measuring 30X5 cm. Place it on the sesame seeds and roll it so the sesame sticks well. Roll it on our counter as well so the sesame sticks well. With a sharp knife and firmly, cut the dough vertically and slightly diagonally into 15 pieces. That is, cut pieces of 2 cm. Leave the first left piece in place and join the rest on top, turning them from the opposite side. Leave the last piece as is. Place the dachtili in a baking tray lined with non-stick parchment paper. Repeat the same with the other 2 dachtilies. Cover with a towel and let the dachtilies rise for 1 hour. To see if they are ready, press the dough with your finger; if our imprint returns (disappears or fades), then put them in the oven. Another trick to see if our dachtilies are ready is to put the small piece of dough we cut at the beginning into a cup of tap water. (We can do this both during the initial dough rising and the second one, after letting the dough rest for 1 hour, like the rest of the dough). When the dough piece floats to the surface, we are ready to bake. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C on convection for 50 minutes.

💡Tips & Notes

REFERENCES FROM CYPRUS GASTRONOMY • They are called dachtilies because the dough is scored into pieces that resemble fingers. In the Kyrenia district, the dough is cut diagonally into thicker and shorter pieces. Then, their name changes to koulouroullies or koulouroupoulla. In the Paphos district, they are called koumoulies or koumoulla or tavlies. They are also called poxamathkies because they were baked twice and made into paximadia (rusks). • We can add any herbs and spices we like to the dachtilies dough. Mrs. Androula Tryfonos' mother, as she confided in me, used to mix artysia (cumin) and grated nutmeg into the sesame seeds. In older times, when bleached sesame was not commercially available, people used to bleach it themselves. Mrs. Androula remembers putting ash in the raw sesame, boiling it in a pot with water until it turned white. Then, they added lemon. Afterwards, they passed it through the patouri (a traditional mill) or through the aleuriko, which was a type of sieve with small holes, and then rinsed it many times. They left it there until it dried and then added the herbs and spices.