The Arabic pastry Kunafa (termed as Kunafeh, knafe or knafeh!, Arabic كنافة) is a traditional recipe and is the most favoured dessert in the middle east. It is often called "The Queen of Arabic dessert". Popularly consumed during the Muslim Ramadan period, it is enjoyed throughout the year mostly in the Arabs. The sweet dish has a beautiful combination of a crispy crust, creamy filling and aromatic syrup.
The sweet might have originated between the 10th and 15th centuries, some theories suggest that the dessert was first made in the 15th century in Egypt. There is another belief that it was first made in the Umayyad Empire during the 10th century. In the 21st century, the city of Nablus in Palestine holds the Guinness World Record for the largest Knafeh ever made.
I have never travelled to the middle east but had my first experience of the Kunafa in the city of Nizams i.e. Hyderabad, India. I savoured the deliciously warm, soft, cheesy melt in mouth dessert. But when I travelled to Bangalore, the kunafa there was crispier and crunchier! I loved both so much. Astonished by the taste, I tried to learn the recipe to cook the Middle east! Sweet-tooths must attempt it at home.
The Kunafa is prepared by stuffing soft melting cheesy cream/custard into two layers of shredded phyllo(kataifi), followed by baking and soaking it in rosewater scented sugar syrup. It is prepared in big rounds and then cut into equal sizes.
The dessert is traditionally made with Arabic cheeses named Nabulsi and Akkawi. But you can prefer to use Mozzarella cheese due to the following:
- Nabulsi and Akkawi cheese are quite difficult to find in India and in other parts of the world.
- These Arabic cheeses are salty in taste, so you need to soak them in water for hours.
- One of the problems that I have heard of Akkawi cheese is it stays soft for 10 - 12 minutes after it gets out of the oven and then it turns into edible leather.
While making this dessert at home I have never used the shredded phyllo pastry instead I replaced it with shredded vermicelli noodles. For the baking process, I have used a cake pan. But, Kunafa is baked in a Kunafa Plate traditionally.
HOW TO MAKE KUNAFA?
Before you start preparing the kunafa, you need to preheat the oven to 180 C/356 F with a rack on the bottom of the oven. Brush a cake pan with some melted butter/ghee.
For the crust
- Roughly chop the kunafa dough/kataifi/kadaifi into 3 cm long pieces over a large bowl.
- Add butter to the shredded kataifi and mix well. Make sure that the butter coat's even with kataifi.
Note: At this stage, you can add a tablespoon of grape molasses or saffron in water with the kataifi to give it a yellowish-orange colour. - Transfer half of the dough to the cake pan and press firmly with the help of your palms or something flat and heavy to get a firm layering.
Making the cream filling - In a separate mixing bowl add milk, sugar, corn starch and milk powder. Mix them well. Place a deep medium-sized saucepan on a gas stove. Add the mixture in the bowl and mix well. Add rose water/essence and mix it, after two minutes turn off the flame. Add the cheese to the mixture and whisk until completely dissolved. Making the sugar syrup
Place a deep medium-sized saucepan on a gas stove. Set the flame at medium. Add sugar, water and
rose water/essence and bring the syrup to boil.
Add lime juice and reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook until one string consistency is achieved.
The dessert gets ready when it turns golden and crunchy in the surface. Garnish it with ground pistachio. Add the sugar syrup before serving. Serve hot.
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