While traveling in Azerbaijan en route to the lovely mountain town of Lahij, we saw women on the side of the road tending their charcoal fires and producing the most delicious and beautiful looking flaky flatbread, called Feseli.

 

  

 

It starts with a dough of flour, water and salt, which is kneaded and left to rest. Then it’s rolled out and covered with a mixture of ground spices, turmeric, and melted butter and ghee.

 

You then roll it into a cylinder, spiral the cylinder, and allow it to rest again.

 

  

Then you flatten out the spiral with a long thin rolling pin, and place into a greased frying pan. I used my trusty cast iron and cooked it on both sides until browned and flaky. This required high heat and hood fan!

The result was sublime!

     

Photos by Emily Smith