“Koulouri arrived in the town with the emigrants from Minor Asia and became a local traditional product, which was sold by street vendors, called koulourtzides, who went out selling them early in the morning, with the tins on their heads. It is one of the most healthy sources of carbohydrates, protein, other nutrients and energy. You can buy a fresh, crispy, warm koulouri, the most famous worldwide, in every corner, in the town of Thessaloniki.
Ingredients
1/2 kg hard flour
1 dice fresh yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons seed oil
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup (about) lukewarm water
2 tablespoons sunflower oil (for the baking tray)
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 cups sesame
Instructions
Pour half cup lukewarm water in a bowl with the yeast and the sugar. Add the flour and knead. Cover with a plastic wrap and leave the yeast for about 30′ min to raise. Put the flour in the mixer bowl (with the dough hook). Open a hole in the middle and add the yeast, the oil, the water and the salt. Start mixing for 3′ min in low speed and then high speed for another 5′ min. Cover the bowl with a towel and leave the dough for 30′ min to rest. Start kneading again for another 5 min.
Split the dough in 15 to 18 balls and then roll on a flour surface, strips of about 30cm long. Cover baking tray with baking paper and spread with oil. Mix water with sugar and dip the strips in it, holding them from the ends. Then put it on the sesame.
Make rounds shaping the koulouri. Line them on the baking tray leaving a distance between them. Cover the baking tray with a towel and leave them another 30′ min to raise. The quantity is for 3-4 baking trays. Bake them in preheated over at 200°C, for about 15′ min.
