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Kak-e Kermanshahi
Thin buttered sugar sheets
کاک کرمانشاهی: Kermanshah's paper-thin buttered sugar sheets
Kermanshah, in Iran's Kurdish west, is famous for its ghee, and kak is the sweet that shows it off: dough rolled so thin you can read through it, baked crisp in seconds, then brushed with melted ghee and showered with sugar before the sheets are folded and stacked. Shops in the city's bazaar sell them in tall boxes, and families bring them out for guests and at Nowruz with glasses of black tea. They are traditionally made with Kermanshahi ghee, a nutty sheep's-milk ghee; ordinary ghee or clarified butter works well. The classic mistake is rolling too thickly: anything over a millimetre bakes up like a cracker, not a crisp, glassy sheet. Chef's tip: roll on a lightly oiled counter rather than flour, and stretch the last bit over the backs of your hands, as the Kermanshah bakers do; excess flour scorches on the hot tray.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
For the dough
- 9 oz plain flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup lukewarm milk
- ⅔ oz gheemelted
- 2 tbsp sunflower oilfor rolling
To finish
- 2 ⅞ oz ghee or clarified buttermelted
- 2 ⅞ oz caster sugar
- ½ tsp ground cardamom (optional)
- 2 tbsp pistachios (optional)finely chopped
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Mix 9 oz plain flour and ¼ tsp salt, add ½ cup lukewarm milk and ⅔ oz ghee and knead for 10 minutes into a very smooth, elastic dough.
10 minStep 2: Cover and rest for 45 minutes; the long rest relaxes the gluten so it will roll paper-thin.
45 minStep 3: Put two large baking trays upside down in the oven and heat it to 450°F (400°F fan). Mix 2 ⅞ oz caster sugar with ½ tsp ground cardamom, if using.
Step 4: Divide the dough into 10 balls. Rub the counter and rolling pin with a little 2 tbsp sunflower oil and roll one ball as thin as you possibly can, to a round about 30 cm across, so the counter shows through.
Step 5: Lift the sheet carefully onto a piece of baking paper and slide it onto a hot tray. Bake for 2–3 minutes, until it bubbles, turns opaque and has pale golden patches; watch it, as it burns fast.
3 minStep 6: Slide it out onto a board, brush at once with 2 ⅞ oz ghee or clarified butter and sprinkle generously with the sugar. While still warm and bendable, fold it in half and then in half again into a fan.
Step 7: Roll, bake and finish the rest of the balls the same way, letting the trays reheat for a minute between sheets.
30 minStep 8: Scatter 2 tbsp pistachios over the stack if you like. Leave until cold and crisp, then store in an airtight box for up to two weeks.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 225 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kak-e Kermanshahi take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 80 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of lukewarm milk?
- Oat, soy or almond milk, same amount (use unsweetened for savoury dishes).
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