14 May, 2021

BAKED VERMICELLI KUNAFA/ಬೇಕ್ಡ್ ಶ್ಯಾವಿಗೆ ಕುನಫಾ

#Akshaya truteeya #Basava Jayanti #Ramzan

An awesome… yummy… crunchy…. luscious…. cheesy…. easy peasy dessert which instantly became our favorite, preferred sweet dish…. I must say it’s truly delicious !!

Kunafa or Kunafeh or Knafeh is a crunchy, cheesy dessert from the middle eastern region. There are many variations in making this dish But today I have made the vermicelli – cheese version.

Basically this is made with shredded pastry layer enclosing a creamy soft milk pudding but I have made using butter/ghee coated long thin vermicelli layer enclosing Khova/Khoya and mozzarella cheese soaked in the fragrant simple sugar syrup infused with Kesar/Saffron and Pineapple flavours from Ossoro and garnished generously with crushed Pistachios, which gives this dessert a classy look and great yummy taste.

I have a video demonstration of this recipe, next time I’ll definitely take the step wise pics and post it here. But till then you can refer my video recipe. By the way Please subscribe to my You tube channel, in case you haven’t yet done so…. Thank you…..

However I have put instant khova made at home in my microwave in just 5 minutes. Though I have put butter this time, I’ll soon try making this same desert using home made ghee. And I have used raw cane sugar instead of refined sugar in this recipe. Besides Ossoro’s flavours definitely make this dish very very aromatic.

By the way … you can also check the recipe of sheer Khurma here, which is yet another yummy dish/dessert made during Eid/Ramzan.

Ingredients : measuring cup used – 250 ml

Vermicelli – 150 gm
Butter/ghee – 50 gm
Khova/Khoya – 200
Mozerella cheese – 70 to 100 gm
Orange color – a fat pinch
Pistachios – to garnish

For the making the syrup :

Raw cane sugar – 1/4 cup
Water – 1/4 cup
Ossoro’s Kesar/saffron flavour – 1/2 tsp
Pineapple flavour – 1 tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp

PROCEDURE :

Soften the butter or ghee, whichever you are using, crush and add the vermicelli into that and coat the vermicelli well while mixing gently with your palm
Divide the mixture into half, add saffron colour to one portion and mix well. First spread the layer of this mixture evenly in a greased tin, then on top of it spread the layer of Khova/Khoya and press gently and next on the top of it spread the layer of cheese and finally with the remaining other half of the butter/ghee coated vermicelli
Gently press everything, loosen the edges from all over and bake in a preheated oven @ 180 d C for 25 minutes
Meanwhile, take the sugar and water in a vessel, heat and boil until the all the sugar dissolves, add the flavours or you can also put 1/4 tsp of cardamom powder as well, remove from the heat and let turn warm
Once baked, remove the Kunafa from the oven, loosen the edges and unmold it onto a plate, pour the warm sugar syrup all over it and sprinkle the chopped Pistachios
Cut into the desired shape and serve and enjoy this yummy desert with your family and friends