Layered Middle Eastern Pastry

In the mixer bowl, put the flour, sugar and salt, and attach the dough hook.

Put lemon juice with water, turn on the mixer on low speed, adding water and lemon juice slowly until you get a smooth, elastic dough, then knead for 2 to 3 minutes.

Shape the dough into a smooth cylinder then cut it into 10 equal pieces and shape each piece into a smooth ball.

Place dough balls in an oiled tray, cover with plastic, and let rest for about half an hour.

Put smen and oil in a bowl and place it beside you.

For shaping the pastry, put some of the smen and oil mixture on the table, place a piece of dough on the smen, and start stretching it gently with the palm of your hand to become a very thin circle, wipe the sheet with smen as needed, then fold the edges over each other to make a circle and set aside.

Repeat with a second piece of dough, stretch it thinly, place the previously shaped piece in the center of this new circle, fold the edges over to cover, and press lightly to shape into a circle.

Repeat with a third piece of dough, stretch it, place the previous one in the center, fold edges to cover, wipe with more smen if needed, and set aside, then continue with remaining pieces to get one large layered pastry disc, place on a shallow tray, and let rest for 10 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown and serve warm.