I saw a plat with Kunafa lying on the table in the living room but I actually did not know what it is. Half of the plat was already eaten so it looked really strange to me. However, the sister of my husband came to me and encourage me to taste it.
I do not have the habit to take foreign things but when she encouraged me so I took a piece of Kunafa and tasted it. And at that moment the World stopped with me. So incredibly delicious taste. Perhaps only once in a hundred years does something so incredibly amazing appear. I ate another two big spoon but I really could not recognize what it is exactly.
Next week, my mother-in-law brought another Kunafa. Fresh one for the whole family. I was looking forward to it and couldn’t wait for the evening to sit at the table and start to eat it .. BUT! This time the taste of the Kunefa was completely different, strange. So I asked why it is so? My mother-in-law told me to pour milk over it and it will be amazing again. There was new hope of perfect taste in me, but even after pouring the milk, It wasn’t the perfect taste anymore!
I was really upset but my husband explained to me that we have a lot of kinds of Kunafa. The one we ate today was just the basic Kunafa. Then we have Kunafa with cream, fruit, Nutella, and cheese! And we also have different shapes. Large circular as a cake but then small tubes and squares. There are no limits to imagination and creativity. Why are there so many kinds of Kunefa? I was surprised at the beginning but it’s actually a perfect system. It’s because of “money”… The basic Kunefa can afford every family! Kunafa with cream and fruit is more expensive and it is not made every day. But worth to try it! And because Kunafa with cream is my favorite one I am going to give you the recipe. Let`s do it!
KUNAFA WITH CREAM
INGREDIENTS
Dough
150 g of butter
Cream
500 g of yogurt
250 g heavy cream
Syrup
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of water
2 teaspoon of lemon
1 package of vanilla sugar
HOW TO MAKE IT
I highly recommend you to buy Kunafa dough from any Arabian shop. Nowadays you can find it all over the world. To make Kunafa dough at home is really not that easy and take a lot of times. Anyway if you do not have the chance to buy it so in the next article I am going to show you how to make the dough.
♥ Take Kunafa dough and put it to the freezer for one hour. Then cut the Kunafa by your hand for 2,5 cm big pieces. Then divide it into two equal parts. And let it rest.
♥ Meanwhile, make the syrup. Put water, sugar, and lemon to a pot and put on medium fire. Stir it till it starts boiling. Change it on lowest fire and do not stir anymore! Cook it 10 minutes exactly. NOT MORE! Otherwise, the syrup will be hard. At the end put the vanilla sugar and let it cool.
♥ Now prepare the cream. Put yogurt and cream together and mix it till smooth. You can put extra sugar if you like to have the taste sweeter. (Egyptian put just the heavy cream but I found the taste is better with the yogurt. It is more light, not that heavy.)
♥Take the baking form. Put first half of Kunafa inside. Melt half of the mentioned butter and put it on the Kunafa. Mix it with hands and push it together. Take the ready cream and put it on the Kunafa. Cover it with the second half Of Kunafa and again pour on it rest of the butter. (Be careful with the final part of Kunafa, do not push anymore.)
♥Bake it! 200°C for 35-40 minutes. Will be a golden color
♥After it’s baked pour on it a syrup. Pour it with a circular movement…
♥Rest it for 10 minutes and you can serve it. You can eat it also cold, depends on your preferences. Kunafa will keep for 3 days in a fridge.
FROM WHERE KUNAFA CAME FROM?
Mowya Ben Sofian was the first king of the Omawy dynasty. And just this King we thank for Kunafa today. While he was fasting in Ramadan he was complaining that whatever he eats it never satisfied him and he is still very hungry during the day. He called a doctor to give him advice.
The doctor recommends him to eat Kunafa. Firstly the king did not believe in it so much because it was food for the poor. But he orders it to bring to a castle and bake it for him. The king could not believe himself of how delicious it is and he was shocked when the second day while fasting did not feel hungry! He decided to spread this sweet miracle to the rest of his empire. And that’s the reason why we have it in Egypt!
So Kunafa is not original from Egypt but Turkey! However, the way of making over the years changed so nowadays the way of making is clearly Egyptian.
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