AI-generated image
Kahk
Kahk: rich ghee cookies for Eid al-Fitr, filled with honey-nut agameya and dusted with icing sugar
In the last nights of Ramadan, Egyptian kitchens fill with flour dust, trays and relatives as families bake kahk for Eid al-Fitr, and many still send them to the neighbourhood bakery's big oven. Hot ghee is rubbed into the flour so the cookies bake up crumbly and melting, fragrant with sesame and kahk spice, and each one is pinched with a patterned tweezer or pressed in a wooden mould before baking. They are filled with agameya, a sticky honey, nut and sesame paste, and buried under icing sugar, then served to every Eid visitor with tea or coffee. Overbaking is the mistake to avoid; kahk should be pale on top and only golden underneath. Chef's tip: the dough is ready to shape once a ball holds firm but crumbles if you squeeze it hard; it should never feel stretchy.
- Total time
- 110 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 18
Ingredients
For the agameya filling
- 1 oz ghee
- 1 oz plain flour
- 3 ½ oz honey
- 1 tbsp sesame seedstoasted
- 1 oz walnutsfinely chopped
For the dough
- 1 ⅛ lb plain flour
- 12 ½ oz ghee
- 2 tbsp sesame seedstoasted
- 1 tsp kahk spice (rihet el kahk)or ½ tsp ground fennel, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon and a pinch of mahlab
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- ½ cup lukewarm milkabout; you may need a little more
To finish
- 3 ½ oz icing sugar
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (1)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/13 doneStep 1: Make the agameya: melt 1 oz ghee in a small pan over a medium-low heat, stir in 1 oz plain flour and cook until light golden.
3 minStep 2: Add 3 ½ oz honey and cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a sticky paste that leaves the sides of the pan. Stir in 1 tbsp sesame seeds and 1 oz walnuts and let it cool.
5 minStep 3: Once cool, roll the agameya into about 36 small balls the size of a chickpea and chill them.
Step 4: For the dough, toast 1 ⅛ lb plain flour in a large dry pan over a medium-low heat, stirring, for 5 minutes until it smells biscuity but has not coloured. Tip into a large bowl.
5 minStep 5: Heat 12 ½ oz ghee until very hot but not smoking, pour it over the flour and rub it in with a wooden spoon, then your fingertips once cool enough, until it looks like damp sand. Leave to cool for 30 minutes.
Step 6: Mix in 2 tbsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp kahk spice (rihet el kahk), 2 tbsp icing sugar, ½ tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp salt and 1 tsp instant yeast.
Step 7: Add ½ cup lukewarm milk a little at a time, mixing gently with your hands until it just comes together into a soft, smooth dough. Don't knead it. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Step 8: Heat the oven to 350°F (325°F fan) and line two baking trays.
Step 9: Take a walnut-sized piece of dough, flatten it in your palm, put an agameya ball in the middle and close the dough around it. Roll into a smooth ball and flatten slightly.
Step 10: Decorate the tops by pinching with a kahk tweezer or the tines of a fork, or press into a kahk mould. Set them on the trays 2 cm apart.
Step 11: Bake, one tray at a time, until the bases are golden and the tops are still pale.
15 minStep 12: Cool on the trays for 10 minutes, as they are fragile when hot, then sift over 3 ½ oz icing sugar generously.
10 minStep 13: Store in an airtight tin for up to 3 weeks; dust with more icing sugar before serving.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 300 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 31 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does kahk take?
- About 110 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 18 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 ghee?
- Butter, same amount (keep the heat a little lower, butter burns sooner).
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Reform torta
Belgrade pastry shops have sold reform torta since the early twentieth century, and it is still the cake Serbian families bring out for birthdays, weddings and the slava. Three thin layers of walnut meringue, crisp at the edge and chewy inside, are stacked with a dense chocolate butter cream made with egg yolks cooked over steam until thick. It is very rich, so cut thin slices and serve with strong coffee. The usual slip is beating the butter into a chocolate mixture that is still warm, which melts it and splits the cream; let it cool to room temperature first. Chef's tip: assemble the cake the day before; overnight in the fridge the meringue softens a little and the cake slices cleanly with a hot knife.
Ma'amoul
Ma'amoul are delicate shortbread-like pastries made for Eid and Easter across the Middle East. A soft, rose-scented butter dough is wrapped around a filling of dates, walnuts, almonds and pistachios cooked with cinnamon, marked with a fork, baked pale and dusted with icing sugar. Makes 35; they keep well in a tin.
Moist banana bread
The blacker the bananas, the better the loaf. This one is mixed in a single bowl with melted butter and a little brown sugar, so it's soft, deeply banana-y and keeps well for days.
American