Azevias de Grão (Portuguese Christmas Chickpea Pastries)
- Prep
- 45 min
- Total
- 1 h 20 min
- pieces
- 20
- Calories
- 225 kcal
- Difficulty
- Medium
Azevias de grão are one of the jewels of the Christmas sweets of the Alentejo, the Ribatejo and Estremadura. Named after the azevia, a flat fish of the Portuguese coast, for their long half-moon shape, they combine a very thin, blistered dough, scented with olive oil, orange juice and brandy, with a rich, moist filling of sweet chickpeas, egg yolks, almond, cinnamon and strands of chila.
They’re traditionally made on December 22 or 23, because they stay crisp through the whole festive week.
Recipe
Azevias de Grão de Natal
An emblematic convent and Christmas sweet of the Alentejo, Ribatejo and Estremadura: half-moons of very thin dough made with olive oil and brandy, filled with a velvety chickpea cream with almond, cinnamon, lemon and chila, fried until they blister and rolled in cinnamon sugar.
Ingredients
For the dough
For the chickpea filling
For frying and dusting
Method
Making the chickpea filling
- 1Rub the cooked chickpeas in a clean cloth to loosen the thin skins and purée them until very smooth in a food processor or food mill.
- 2In a pan, heat the 300 g of sugar with the 120 ml of water and boil for 3 to 4 minutes to a light syrup (105 °C).
- 3Add the chickpea purée, ground almonds, chila jam, cinnamon and lemon zest to the syrup, stirring constantly over low heat until you have a smooth paste.
- 4Take off the heat, let it cool for 5 minutes and fold in the 5 beaten yolks. Return to low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring hard until the cream thickens and leaves a trail on the bottom of the pan. Let it cool completely on a flat plate.
Kneading, rolling and frying
- 5Put the flour and salt in a wide bowl, make a well in the middle and pour in the warm olive oil, the melted butter, the brandy and the orange juice.
- 6Add the warm water gradually and knead on the counter for 8 to 10 minutes until you have a very elastic, smooth ball. Wrap in cling film and let it rest for 45 minutes at room temperature.
- 7Roll the dough out with a rolling pin (or a pasta machine) into almost see-through strips 1 to 1.5 mm thick.
- 8Place heaped tablespoons of cold filling along the strip, leaving 4 cm between each. Moisten the edge with water, fold the dough over the filling, pressing out the air, and cut into half-moons with a pastry wheel.
- 9Fry the azevias in oil at 170 °C (350 °F) for 2 minutes per side, spooning hot oil over the top so the dough blisters and crisps. Drain on paper towels and roll them, while warm, in the cinnamon sugar.
Tips
Take the skins off the chickpeas: it takes 5 minutes and makes the filling silky, with no graininess.
Let the dough rest so the gluten relaxes and you can roll it 1 mm thick without it shrinking. A pasta machine is a big help if you’re making several dozen.
Azevias open in the oil if air is trapped inside or the filling is still warm or too soft. Use completely cold, firm filling, moisten the join lightly and press the edges well.
The filling can be made 3 to 4 days ahead and kept in the fridge. Fried azevias keep crisp for 5 to 6 days in an airtight box lined with parchment.
