Levantine cuisine · Desserts & Sweets

Kellaj Ramadan

Crisp dough parcels with melted cheese, fried and dipped hot into cold orange blossom syrup.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 8 sheets phyllo dough
• 300 g mozzarella (unsalted, well drained)
• 150 g cream cheese
• 300 g sugar for the syrup
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp orange blossom water
• 600 ml frying oil
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp pistachios

Instructions

1. First make the syrup: bring 300 g sugar to a boil with 200 ml water and the lemon juice, simmer uncovered for 8–10 min. until lightly syrupy, stir in the orange blossom water and chill completely.
2. Coarsely grate the mozzarella, knead it together with the cream cheese and — if it is very salty — soak it in cold water for 30 min. beforehand and squeeze out well.
3. Stir the flour with 3 tbsp water into a thick paste; it will reliably seal the edges later.
4. Halve each phyllo sheet, place 2 tbsp of the cheese mixture on the lower end, fold in the sides and roll up into a tight parcel, sealing the seam with the flour paste.
5. Heat the frying oil to 175 °C and fry the parcels in batches for 2–3 min. until golden brown, turning once, until crisp all over.
6. Dip the hot parcels immediately for 20 sec. into the ice-cold syrup, drain, sprinkle with chopped pistachios and serve warm while the cheese still pulls into strings.