Taş Kadayıf Tarifi
Taş kadayif is a delicious dessert with syrup, known in Adana, Mersin, Hatay and probably many other cities in this region. Crispy on the outside, has a spongy softness under that layer and a crunchy walnut part in the middle, which drags you from texture to texture while eating.
In some sources, it is written that the distinguished taste of Malatya cuisine, yassı kadayıf, is the same thing as taş kadayıf. First, let's fix this mistake. Although they are similar, taş kadayıf and yassı kadayıf are different things. Although the kadayıfs of the yassı kadayıf are usually store bought, they are prepared more or less the same way as the taş kadayıf. However, different from taş kadayıf, yassı kadayıf is not fold, it is dipped in beaten egg as a single layer and then fried and syruped.
Now let's go back to our main topic, the taş kadayıf. Although the dough of taş kadayıf may seem like pancake dough to many people, but it is very similar to the baghrir recipe from Moroccan cuisine that I have shared before, in terms of ingredients and cooking method. Taş kadayıf is not a dough with egg and baking powder like pancakes. It has a simpler dough made with flour, water, milk, yeast and semolina. Vegans and those with milk allergies can use vegan milk or water instead of milk. There's nothing special that milk adds to the recipe, it can be easily waived.
After the dough is prepared, it is cooked on one side in an oil-free pan until it dries, just like baghrir. The dryness of it is not dry in the contrast of soft-dry, but dry in the contrast of wet-dry, by the way. The dough image on it should disappear, and the dough should not get on your finger when you touch it with your finger. After cooking the whole dough in this way, you need to put ground walnuts in them and fold them in half and join the edges. While doing this, you may think that they are not cooked well, they will stick easily as I fold them, but they don't. Even though they are not cooked by touching the pan, they are still cooked. You have to squeeze hard so that the edges stick together. This tightening causes the edges to be crushed. This is normal. When these crushed edges are fried, they become crispy and delicious.
In order for the dessert not to be doughy, it should be dipped into syrup immediately after frying and the syrup should not be hot, if possible, it should be refrigerator cold. For this, you can follow the recipe step by step or you can prepare the syrup a day in advance and keep it in the refrigerator. Taş kadayıf turns into a very easy dessert when its syrup is prepared in advance.
The best consistency of taş kadayıf, which I mentioned at the beginning, is crispy on the outside and sponge-like on the inside. This consistency naturally happens for a few hours after preparation. Depending on the storage conditions, it can be preserved or softened on the outside. I don't think it's a problem if it gets soft, even if it's soft, it is still very tasty. But if you want it to stay crispy for longer, what you need to do is to prevent it from waiting in the syrup. After the dessert is dipped into syrup, they are taken out in a few minutes, but when you put the dessert you have taken from the syrup on the plate, the syrup flowing from the dessert accumulates under it and the part of the dessert that is waiting in the syrup softens. If you want to avoid this, you can place the desserts you take out of the syrup on a rack instead of on a plate. If you stack the desserts you have taken out of the syrup, the desserts at the bottom will become more wet and soften again with the syrup flowing from the top ones. To avoid this, you should keep the desserts in such a way that they do not overlap.
If the temperature is not too high, you can store taş kadayıf at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Enjoy the recipe...
Ingredients
For the dough;
- 1 cup of warm water,
- 1 cup of milk/vegan milk,
- 2 tablespoons of semolina,
- 1 teaspoon of sugar,
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast,
- 2 cups of flour,
- Oil for frying,
- 1 cup of finely ground walnuts for the filling.
For syrup;
- 2 cups of water,
- 2 cups of sugar,
- Half a slice of lemon.
Preparation
- For syrup, take water, sugar and lemon in a saucepan and cook on high heat, stirring until the sugar melts,
- When the sugar melts and the syrup starts to boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes,
- Remove the syrup from the heat and wait until it cools down,
- After the syrup has cooled, put the syrup in the refrigerator and start preparing the dough,
- Mix water, milk, sugar and yeast for the dough,
- Add the semolina and mix,
- Add the flour little by little and whisk until you get a smooth consistency,
- Cover it with cling film and let it rest for 30-45 minutes at room temperature,
- After the dough is foamy, heat a large non-stick pan on the stove,
- Pour round pieces from the dough into the pan with a large spoon,
- Cook until the dough is dry and remove it from the pan,
- Cook the remaining dough in the same way,
- Put about a teaspoon of walnut kernels inside the pieces, fold them in half and stick them by pressing with two fingers (the places you press will be crushed, this is how it should be),
- Heat plenty of oil in a narrow sauce pan,
- Put the kadayıfs in hot oil (4-5 pieces at a time) and cook them until they are nicely browned,
- As soon as you take the fried kadayıfs out of the oil, place them in the cold syrup, stirring constantly, let them absorb the syrup for a few minutes and strain them out of the syrup,
- Fry the remaining kadayifs in the same way and dip them in the syrup.
Bon Appetit...