hi everyone today is the day to
make that great kunefe at home and you'll be so surprised how easy it
is and how delicious it's going to be. When you look at kunefe, it is this amazing dish
which looks so posh compared to how it looks the number of ingredients you're going to need
and the effort that you're going to put in it is so little that you'll be surprised. The hardest
ingredient to find is probably Kadayıf. I've asked you guys and you all told me it's easy to find
in u.s in many of the markets they sell it you've sent me some links thank you guys i love
you and you make my days and nights and weeks thank you for all the help. In uk as well in
arab markets in turkish markets and in india as well, so this is the kadayıf. Actually this is
not a really good one but i have chosen this purposefully it's rather in a way a little dry
when you open it for a long time please put a damn clothe not a dry one but wet clothes. So that
it won't get dry. But i'll show you a technique to make it come back to life perfectly. So künefe
is now ready to be cooked and enjoyed worldwide. Now we're going to make this crunchy Börek, the kadayıf and then we're going to wet it with something sugary and that will give
its sugariness because kadaif by itself is a dough it's not sweet it's not salty. To make this 'Şerbet' the classical one is one tablespoon of sugar to one tablespoon of water. For the
whole serving which is going to be around for six people is going to be six tablespoons
of sugar. If you say Refika we don't like using sugar anymore none of us do. I just wanted to make
the classical and the crunchy one but if you're totally against using processed sugar you can make
the same thing with 4 tablespoons of water and 7 tablespoons of honey. So i'm going to add to this
6 tablespoons of sugar to 6 tablespoons of water. I'm going to mix this and turn on the heat what
we have to do is melt the sugar on low heat before the water starts to boil. If you do this in high
heat before the sugar melts, the water will start to boil and when that happens you make the dessert
it could be a baklava, it could be a künefe when it gets cold the sugar turns into granules again and
that we don't like. We want it to stay as şerbet. That's the key success point in this and i don't
know if he knew but the sorbet the italians do got its inspiration from şerbet. In the autumn time
there were lots of different kinds of sherbets made from herbs, spices or mixture of fruits and
spices these were wonderful and then that sherbet turned into sorbet and became this great
thing. First when sugar is melting it becomes this opaque thing and then it starts to be more clear
as you can see it's not still very clear when this melts it starts to be a little thick that's
what we want. When it starts to boil make it boil for about a minute and then we put few drops of
lemon. Purposely I'm using this old lemon because i had it in the refrigerator normally i wouldn't
have used it but i want to encourage you guys to use everything to the maximum. I want to show you
the real life don't take it as an insult on you normally these few drops make it shinier, helps it
not to crystallize when the sherbet gets cold. When you put sherbet on something for the crunchiness
to stay one has to be cold the other one has to be hot like if the künefe is hot we have to
put the cold sherbets or vice versa. I'm going to take this outside to the cold so that it gets
cold as soon as possible when i make my künefe. Now the second step is to wet the künefe with
some kind of fat the traditional way is to wet it with butter. If you have butter at home you can
use it that way. We will need three tablespoons of butter to wet this 150 grams of kadayıf. But i'm
going to do something else because this kadaif is not so fresh and the ones you're going
to get are not going to so fresh because in normally Antakya, they just like put
the dough on this copper plate which is going round and round and just they take
it out and the künefe guys pick it and then prepare it immediately and then
cook it and you eat it that way. We cannot race with that but this is the Refika
technique, this i have used actually in London. There was this Yosma Restaurant in Baker Street and they were not getting this künefe taste greatly. So I have said, guys instead of
butter let's put double clotted cream and this is also a turkish thing made in Afyon. In BBC I was
part of the documentary there this has milk in it and the milkiness will waken up and freshen
the künefe. So i'm going to cut this in pieces. I know that you can find double clotted cream in
UK but if you cannot find you can use some kind of cream and butter together. If you have it at
home, this milkiness will help it i'm just melting it this much. And because if it's too hot it's
going to make it mushy and what i'm going to do i pull apart kadayıf like this. Bahar: Ah actually you
have a lot of recipes with kadayıf like salty, sour, sweet. I have to tell you i want to be
known in Turkey as 'Aunty Kadayıf' someday when i get old. Because this beauty was just being used for
künefe, it was not in their minds that they can make it at home it wasn't very easy i gave that
idea the rest of turkey not locals even when i went to Germany i made schnitzel out of it, in the Frankfurt Book Fair. The schnitzel is so well. Or if you wrap this kadayıf around the banana and fry it
and just a bit of nutmeg and honey it becomes one of the best desserts ever. Bahar: You make börek out of
it. Tava Börek which is one of the Bahar's favorites you know.. So what i did? It was this long thing, i tore it
into small pieces like this and now i'm adding all the clotted cream and not to lose anything
what i'm doing is cleaning inside the pan with this maybe you remember the word 'Bereket',
this increases the fruitfulness of the home, sustainability of your life. Because now we get to
use all the offerings of this clotted cream and not waste it. With my hands i rub this cream to
all the strings but i'm not doing this like you know pushing it inside and then it will become
a mushy thing. It won't be a crunchy thing so i am being very careful in terms of giving it an
air you shouldn't make it lose its individuality. Each string is done. So now i'm ready to cook for
the cheese i have dil peyniri, which is like the string cheese but anything that you have which
is not so salty would do cream cheese wouldn't be so great. Make this into these strings so that
it will elongate better. Now my cheese are ready. A copper pan is great but if you don't have it, it
could be any kind of pan that you like. It would be better if you have just like a long handle i just
wanted to make it in copper and i'm making it in a harder version but to make it looks cooler for you
guys. So first heat the pan a little and make sure that with this teaspoon of butter to butter all
the bottom of the pan, now i'm turning the heat to the lowest and now i'll add the half of the
kadayıf inside. After I cover the bottom, now i have to press it so that when the cheese melt, doesn't
go from a hole. If there's a weak point i'll add a bit of kadayıf and make sure that everything
is closed. Then with a wooden spatula i am pushing the edges so that it will look better
now i add my cheese it's about 80 grams. Leaving just a centimeter from the edge because when the
cheese melts and as you can see i'm very generous for the cheese, I don't want it to fall from the
sides. Then i add the rest of the kadayıf on top. Now this wooden spoon helps to make it into a
shape, some of the wooden spoons that you have like for example this is like a bit brown because these
are all handmade but it's okay because wood is alive. If it bends a little etc you can always put
it in some water and it will get back to normal. And never put these kind of wooden spatulas to the
dishwasher. I am pushing from the side and pushing from the top. Normally i want to show you, künefes
are nicely made in these pans like this. Because you wouldn't be able to find it, I didn't use them.
Last but not least, it comes down to the pistachios. These are called 'Boziç' these are like the green
olives before the olives turn black. Green olives are collected a little earlier, these are same the
pistachios are collected in a little earlier time and just dried like this. So it's bright green
There are Iranian and Turkish pistachios sold all over. I think one of the super foods, it's a bit
expensive but it's worth it. This makes the great taste of baklava. But if you don't have this
pistachios you can use any kind of pistachios that you can find. Okay it won't be the same if
you have just like macadamia nuts or some things. It comes to the hardest part to turn the künefe
other side. Bahar: How do you understand when to turn it? Does it move like this? It's important if it doesn't
move like a leakage of cheese or something you have to make sure by like pushing it
understanding from which side to take the sticking cheese out of with a spatula or something.
Second, you can see it's done it's crunchy. Now the hardest thing i want to show
you the plates. Normally what i would do? I have each different size of leads like this and
with the lid just turn it or like this turn it but because like the lid shouldn't have corners
that stick out and it's really hard to find and you might not have it so i thought a plate would
be better. But with the plates probably you have several different kinds of plates for example this
plate is not good why the corners like stick out and when you try to turn when you're trying
to slide the kadayıf, if it won't be so easy. Or a plate like this, this part is very
long so it will go down and won't be so good. This plate is not very curvy the sides are
easily slippable compared to this one, like this. So a plate like this which is almost the size
of the kunefe. So it will get inside the pan. If the plate is bigger and there's a space, when
you're turning it might cause a problem. So, time to turn the kunefe. To be on the safe side, turn
the heat down and then put the plate like this into the pan and then with a cloth that will hold
both the handles. If they are plastic that would be easier. What i'm going to do is use this hand and
with the other hand i'll turn the pan like this. Yes. So turn the heat again add
the rest of the teaspoon of butter. Turn it to the lowest heat and this
shouldn't be on the plate too much. Now i'm making slower but it's
better if you're faster, slip the künefe. Bahar: You know, how they turned it normally you know..
Like this. One day we can do it but my job is to make sure that all you guys do it perfectly.
So, there's a saying i want to tell you about Şems-i Tebrîzî which is the inspiration of
Mevlânâ Rûmî, he says that 'Hayatım alt üst olur diye üzülme.. Nereden biliyorsun, hayatının altının üstünden daha güzel olmadığını?' Now, this is to translate it; don't be sad if
your life turns upside down, how do you know that the upside is much better than the downside..
now as we have turned the künefe upside down, that thing was in my mind to tell you guys. Now the
bottom size is much crunchy again what i'm trying to do, is push the edges like this to the middle i
add the pistachios and it's very important for it to be slowly cooked. This pushing the sides is very
essential to pull the künefe together. Actually you're kind of wrapping the künefe. Now as you can
see it's growing because now the cheese are melted and going great. By the way you can make this in
the oven and usually the recipes are like that but it's never never as tasty and as crunchy when you
do this in a pan. Now we have the cold sherbet, whoa.. As you can see, it's kind of thick. I turned the
heat down. It's very hot now it's time to put the sherbet. And the rest, what i'm going to do?
I'm going to drop around the pan so from the bottom it can be soaked like this. Now time to eat. So this is how it looks, something like this. And if you like the edge, the crunchy side, which i am that person. Bahar: No i am that person.
Okay you're that person, how do you like it? mmm everytime.. Guys this is the Künefe Lady speaking, I've eaten
kadayıf, everywhere almost around Turkey. Tasted many people's and trust me if you do this this, this
is the closest it gets to the best, which is in Antakya, in this long bazaar. Which is probably
there for about a thousand years i don't know. It was so beautiful and enjoy this is how the famous
kadayıf is done at its best in the tradition with ingredients that you can find everywhere in the
world. Bahar: I have been dreaming about this since the day you said, you're going to cook this. Well,
if you want, you can put more kaymak on it, on top. Always heavenly. Bahar: That butter, the crunch the
wonder taste of that cheese, sherbet there's another saying in turkish don't eat it
sleep with it and like not having sex. So it has these kind of effects too guys. Now
she's going through a sugar rush so normal. Take care. Have a wonderful weekend and have a
wonderful week hopefully. If you're under quarantine, this is a great way to celebrate it. Don't
forget to share the video like the video. Bye.
