A homemade Afghan pastry — thin folded dough fried until golden and crisp, soaked in fragrant cardamom sugar syrup and finished with ground walnuts.
Baghlawa-e-khanagi is a homemade Afghan sweet — ribbons of cardamom-and-walnut dough fried until golden, then drenched in sugar syrup and dusted with more walnuts. Crisp, fragrant and sticky-sweet, it's a celebratory treat well worth the little bit of effort.
Prep 30 min
Cook 30 min
Total 60 min
Medium
- 600g Flour
- 3 Eggs
- 450ml Milk
- 75 ml Vegetable Oil
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 50g Ground Walnuts
- 10g Cardamom
- 300g Sugar
- 1 L Water
Preparation
- Place the flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Whisk the eggs and pour them into the well.
- Add the milk and combine, then stir in the ground walnuts, baking powder and cardamom, folding everything together until you have an elastic dough.
- Roll the dough out into a thin rectangle on a clean surface. Starting from the longest side, fold it into 3cm-wide pleats until it's rolled into a long line, then cut horizontally into 3cm pieces.
- Heat a deep pan of vegetable oil to frying temperature. Meanwhile, bring 1 litre of water to the boil in another deep pan, stir in the sugar until thick and syrupy, then turn down the heat and leave to simmer.
- Carefully lower each piece of dough into the hot oil and fry until golden brown.
- Lift the pieces out and place them straight into the sugar syrup to coat.
- Remove from the syrup and, while still warm, sprinkle with ground walnuts so they stick.
- Leave to cool, then enjoy.
Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen
- Knead the dough until elastic so the fried pieces hold their pleated shape.
- Have the syrup hot and ready before you fry, so you can coat the pieces while they're still warm and crisp.
- Fry in small batches at a steady temperature for an even golden colour.
- Sprinkle the walnuts on while sticky so they cling to the syrup-coated surface.
Frequently Asked Questions
Thick and glossy enough to coat the back of a spoon — it thickens further as it cools, so don't over-reduce it.
Pistachios or almonds work beautifully in place of, or alongside, the walnuts.
A few days in an airtight container, though it's at its crisp-sticky best the day it's made.
