Kunafeh My Way

Kunafeh, also known as Kadayif in Turkey, is one of the most favoured desserts of the Levant. It can come in several forms, including Nabulsi Kunafeh (with cheese), Madlouaa kunafeh (with cream) and mabroumeh (rolled).

Despite it not being the healthiest dessert in the world, I can firmly say that it is absolutely delicious. It brings happiness to the soul – which is something we all need!

This recipe is dedicated to all the Arabs around the world. They don't always have access to readymade kunafeh whenever they crave it. The steps are easy to follow, but it takes a bit of time.

Servings: 20 discs

Start to finish: 1 hour.

Ingredients:

The kunafeh dough:

3/4 cup water

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cornflour

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 1/2 tablespoons milk powder

pinch salt

The kunafeh:

250 grams cooked kunafeh

2 cups pistachio nuts

3 tablespoons ghee or butter

1/3 cup syrup

For the topping:

150 grams ricotta cheese

1/4 cup pistachio nuts for decoration

1 tablespoon syrup

1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water

Method:

· Place all the ingredients for the kunafeh dough in a blender. Blend until there are no lumps.

· Transfer to a squeezing bottle with a very fine nozzle.

· Heat a nonstick pan and drizzle in a circular motion until you get fine strands. If you don’t have such a pan wipe with vegetable oil using a kitchen towel.

· Remove the strands once cooked ( less than seconds) and transfer to a covered plate, so it does not dry out.

· Melt 2 tablespoons of ghee in a pan, roughly cut the kunafeh strands with scissors and cook with the ghee for about 7 minutes.

· Once cooked transfer to a bowl and add the 1/3 cup syrup and the pistachio.

· Mix and run through a meat mincer twice. You can adjust the sweetness to suit your palate.

· Return to a bowl and mix by hand then put it in the fridge to cool a bit.

· Mix the ricotta cheese with 1 tablespoon of syrup and add the orange blossom.

· Remove the kunafeh from the fridge and mix with your hand a bit and start forming walnut-size discs and flatten with your hand.

· Place a spoonful of the ricotta cheese and decorate with pistachio nuts and optional rose jam.

Notes:

· If you don’t have a bottle you can use and Ziplock bag and make a fine hole at the corner, or you can use an empty plastic water bottle and make holes in the lid.

· The kunafeh strands are suitable for freezing.

· The kunafeh base is also suitable for freezing.

· Adjust sweetness to your liking by adding more syrup.

Per Serving: 457 Calories; 43g Fat (81.3% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 88mg Cholesterol; 22mg Sodium