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Kallaj
Kallaj Ramadan: crisp baked pastry parcels filled with orange-blossom cream and syrup
LebaneseKallaj appears in the sweet shops of Beirut and Tripoli only during Ramadan, when bakers sell paper-thin starch sheets to wrap around cream or cheese and fry for after iftar. Home cooks recreate it with filo: square parcels of thick milk cream, baked until they crackle, then soaked briefly in rose and orange-blossom syrup and finished with pistachios. Serve them warm, a few minutes after the syrup goes on, while the outside is still crisp. Common mistake: drowning them in syrup and leaving them to sit; spoon it over just before serving. Chef's tip: a cheese version — fill with half mozzarella, half unsalted ricotta — is just as traditional; choose a vegetarian-rennet mozzarella if you need it.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the cream
- 1 ¾ cups whole milk
- 1 ¼ oz cornflour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 mastic (optional)small tears, ground with a pinch of sugar (optional)
- 2 tsp orange blossom water
For the parcels
- 6 filo pastrysheets
- 2 ½ oz melted butter
For the syrup
- 7 oz sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp rose water
To finish
- 1 oz pistachioschopped
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Boil 7 oz sugar and ½ cup water for 6 minutes, add 1 tsp lemon juice and 1 tsp rose water and let cool.
7 minStep 2: Whisk 1 ¼ oz cornflour into a little of 1 ¾ cups whole milk, then add the rest of the milk, 2 tbsp sugar and 2 mastic. Stir over a medium heat for 6 minutes until very thick. Stir in 2 tsp orange blossom water, cover the surface and chill for 45 minutes until firm.
50 minStep 3: Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan). Brush a sheet of 6 filo pastry with 2 ½ oz melted butter, fold it in half to make a rough square-ish rectangle and brush again.
Step 4: Put a heaped tablespoon of cream in the middle, fold the four sides over to make a square parcel and set seam-down on a lined tray. Brush the top with butter. Repeat to make 6 (or 12 smaller) parcels.
Step 5: Bake for 15–18 minutes until deep golden and crisp.
18 minStep 6: Spoon a little cool syrup over each hot parcel, scatter with 1 oz pistachios and serve within 30 minutes, with extra syrup on the side.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kallaj take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of whole milk?
- Semi-skimmed milk with 1 tbsp cream per 240ml (1 cup).
- What can I use instead of cornflour?
- Arrowroot or potato starch, same amount.
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