Last Updated on April 2, 2019 by Chef Mireille
Ktaifi Karides is a Turkish appetiser where prawns are wrapped in ktaifi (shredded phyllo) pastry. It is usually served on a bed of muhammara, a delicious capsicum (red bell pepper) dip. Make this appetiser at your next dinner party and wow your guests!
I am so happy to present this guest post from Tamara of Foodieverse today. Like me, she is a blogger who is interested in world cuisine. So let’s meet Tamara…
Tamara also shares recipes from around the world. Having grown up between four countries of diverse cultures, Tamara’s appreciation for varied flavours was developed early on in life. When Tamara is not cooking or sharing recipes at Foodieverse, she is likely talking about food or discovering new places to eat in Sydney, Australia. Mediterranean cuisine remains Tamara’s favourite cuisine and if she could, she would eat gyros and shawarma for lunch and dinner every day for the rest of her life.
So I made a batch of Kunafa last week. Kunafa is a Middle Eastern dessert that has layers of custard or cream or mozzarella cheese and ktaifi (shredded phyllo pastry). I overestimated the amount of ktaifi I would need and ended up with one whole bag of leftover pastry. So what did I end up making with this delicate and voluminous pastry? Something that will be a hit at your next dinner party. Lo and behold – Ktaifi Karides! Loosely translated from Turkish to Ktaifi wrapped prawns (shrimp). The Greek version of this is called Ktaifi Garides. Don’t you love how food travels across cultures, and language too? I have eaten this at both Turkish and Greek restaurants and they taste so similar! So I needed to recreate this at home instead of letting the pastry go to waste.
The Turkish version is usually served over a bed of muhammara that is made by roasting red bell pepper and blending it with walnuts, breadcrumbs, pomegranate molasses, oil and some spices. It is a delicious dip to have with some pita bread, but it really adds texture and flavour to the Ktaifi Karides. Do make this dip to go along with it, and keep the rest to later savour as a dip, it keeps well in a jar for around 2 weeks. I provide more background to this dip in my Muhammara blog post.
I think these prawns would also be perfectly paired with Chef Mireille’s White Bean Dip with Roasted Red Peppers. The mix of beans and roasted red peppers, resembling Muhammara, will make your taste buds tingle with excitement!
I’ve divided the recipe into the Ktaifi Karides and the Muhammara dip. They’re both very simple to make, so let’s get to it!
Ktaifi Karides Tips
I used Banana prawns that are widely available here in Australia. Any medium or large sized prawns will do, it’s up to you how big you want them to be. Peel, leaving the tails intact and devein. I like to lightly season them.
You may choose to tear the pastry by hand or use scissors. The width can be between 1cm to 4cm, depending on how thick you want to wrap it.
Lay the pastry flat with the short side facing you. Brush with butter or olive oil. I used a mixture of both. Place a prawn on the pastry, tail-side pointing outwards/away from the pastry, then roll. Brush with some more butter or oil.
Bake. And you’re done! How easy was that? Just don’t tell your guests when you get rave reviews.
Muhammara Dip Tips
To get more rave reviews, serve the prawns over this dip.
You could either use a jar of roasted red peppers or roast peppers yourself.
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