THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An otherworldly aroma permeates every nook and cranny of Cijara Anez’s home. It is a Sunday, but she is busy ticking off the last of the orders. A tempting golden crispy crust encompassing a gooey core made of cheese, which just melts in your mouth arrives straight out of the oven. Crushed pistachios lay sprinkled atop the dish. Sugar syrup is drizzled over the dish.
One bite and there is an outburst of flavours. No wonder the dish has caught the fancy of the residents in the city. The dessert which has its origin in the Palestinian city of Nablus is now creating ripples in the culinary circuits of Thiruvananthapuram. It is the Knafeh (Kunafa).
In the city of Nablus, Knafeh is an emotion, and no celebratory occasion is devoid of this delicacy. It seems Thiruvananthapuram has also taken a leaf out of it. This dessert which would be described best as heaven on a platter has even replaced cakes for festivities.
Of late people are ordering Knafehs for birthdays as well as other occassions, Cijara says. “After I tasted Knafeh, I had to make it! Although I tried baking it, I got the dish right when my sister from Dubai told me the trick,” says Cijara who works at Speridian Technologies. She is now flooded by orders and has more than 100 pending orders.
The dessert was introduced to the city folks by Afiya Thaha, a medical practitioner when she decided to bake the dish. “I had introduced the dish in a food group in Facebook by posting pictures. I got a few queries and some wanted to get it. So when I got hold of some extra dough, I decided to bake it and announced it in the group. Initially, it was for a limited number of people. But once people started posting reviews, orders began pouring in,” says Afiya.
So much so, she had to depend on Google to track the orders. “Things pepped up in November and I still am not done with the orders,” says the house-surgeon who manages to find time to bake the dish. “On any day I have to bake at least one Knafeh,” she adds, all excited at introducing a new dish into Kerala’s culinary scenario.
Knafehs are priced on the higher side as the dough has to be imported, the bakers add. “I travelled all over the state in search of the dough. But couldn’t get it,” says Cijara. Kataifi, a dough similar to semolina, and cheese form the basis of the dish. Knafeh has a soft, pulpy core made of cheese filling that is encrusted by baked Kataifi.
And it is not just Cijara and Afiya who are delighting the taste buds of the city residents. City-based home chef Sheeba R is yet another name synonymous with baking mouth-watering Knafehs. It is not just Knafehs that she bakes, though. A delectable array of Arabian desserts form her fare. The Arabic milk pudding ‘Mahallabia’, and dessert ‘Layali Lebanon’ are already earning rave reviews. “I am trying different variants of Knafehs,” she says. She is gearing up to introduce other Arabic desserts such as ‘Basbousa’ and ‘Baklava’. “Arabian cuisine has always caught my fancy as they are healthy and nutritionally rich,” she says.
The dessert which has its origin in the Palestinian city of Nablus is now creating ripples in T’Puram