Diya's Food Diaries

MINI KUNAFA/KNAFEH WITH SEMOLINA DOUGH

Ingredients :-

For the dough:-

    Semolina – 1 1/2 cup
    Melted Butter  – 1/4 cup
    Sugar – 2 tea spoon
    Rose water – 1/2 tea spoon
    Orange blossom water – 1/4 tea spoon
    Salt – a big pinch
    Milk – 1/2 cup

For the Filling :-

    Milk – 1 cup
    Fresh Cream – 1 cup
    Corn flour – 1 1/2 table spoon
    Sugar/condensed milk – 1 table spoon
    Salt – a pinch
    Rose water – 1/2 tea spoon
    Mozzarella cheese – 1 cup (Shredded/cubed)
    Ground Pistachios – enough to garnish

Sugar syrup :-

    Sugar – 1 cup
    Water – 3/4 cup
    Lemon juice – 1 table spoon
    Rose water – 1/2 tea spoon
    Orange blossom water – 1/2 tea spoon

For assembling kunafa:-

    Milk – 1/2 cup + little more if dough doesn’t hold
    Melted butter – enough to brush on top and to grease the muffin tin
    Crushed pistachios – for garnishing

Direction :-

For the dough

    Preheat your oven at 170 °C.
    Take all the ingredients to make the dough in a bowl and mix with your hand and make soft dough. It should neither be soo dry nor so sticky.
    In your non stick baking sheet, flatten the prepared dough about 10 inch diameter circle and bake for about 30 minutes. (It doesn’t need to be brown). Then keep aside to cool down completely.
    Now break the baked dough roughly and put it in your food processor, and grind it well.
    Then pass the powdered dough through a sieve and get even more fine texture. Grind the big chunks again to make it fine, pass them through sieve again until you get very fine textured dough.

For the filling

    Take some milk and add corn flour and make smooth paste.
    In a sauce pan, add milk,cream,sugar/condensed milk, salt and corn flour paste and heat it and bring to a boil. Stir continuously until the mixture thickened well.
    Add the rose water and switch off the flame. Keep aside to cool completely.
    Add mozrella cheese in a bowl of normal water and keep it for 1 and half to 2 hours to take off the saltiness of the cheese. (See tip)

For sugar syrup :-

    Take sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat and just stir to combine. Bring to boil. When sugar melts completely add in the lemon juice. Let it simmer for another 10 to 15  minutes get the syrup thickened up, add rose water and orange blossom water and switch off the flame, keep aside to cool down.

For assembling and baking Kunafa :-

    Preheat your oven at 180 °C , grease your muffin tray with butter.
    Take the kunafa dough in a bowl, add half cup of milk to it. Dough should hold together when pressing with your hands like wet sand.
    Then press and cover the bottom and sides of the greased muffin tin with the prepared dough.Not very thick layer , but it shoudn’t be too thin either.
    Add 2 to 3 small cubes of mozzarella cheese, then top it with 2 tea spoon of prepared cream filling and again top it with few cubes of mozzarella cheese again.
    On top of that cover with little kunafa dough again.
    Brush the top with melted butter.
    Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden color.
    Take out from the oven, demould the kunafa and pour the prepared sugar syrup on top of it.
    Garnish with crushed pistachios and serve hot with a cup of black tea or coffee.

Tips & Tricks :-

    You can prepare dough,cream and syrup in advance.
    You can also assemble and freeze the kunafa, just bake before you serve.
    Akawi cheese can also be used instead of mozzarella. Ricotta cheese or freshly made cottage cheese can also be used, make sure cottage cheese doesn’t taste more tangy if using it.
    You can also make kunafa either with cheese or cream alone, its up to your personal preference.
    If you are not a fan of flower fragrance, completely opt out the rose-water and orange blossom water and can also be substitute with vanilla extract. But rose water and orange blossom water gives the authentic taste.
    I added mozzarella cheese with and without soaking in water, both the way we liked it.

VIA
https://nadiskitchen.com/2017/05/31/mini-kunafakanafa-with-home-made-kunafa-dough/