Cheese and Chard Kada

Cheese and Chard Kada

The Jews of Kurdistan made cheese kada for Shavuot. FOODISH’s chard version is an Israeli chef’s adaptation, stated as such here, not a single reconstruction of what every family made.

Prep: 45 minutes · Rising: 1 hour · Skillet cooking: 30 minutes · Yield: 20 · Difficulty: medium

A dairy filling that needs to be dry

Cheese kada is known among the Jews of Kurdistan as a Shavuot pastry, while the combination with chard here relies on a documented Israeli adaptation. The cheeses provide salt and moisture and the chard adds volume, so squeeze the greens and drain any watery cheese before mixing. A wet filling softens the dough and keeps it from browning in the skillet.

Ingredients

• 800 grams flour, 12 grams yeast, 480–520 ml water, 14 grams salt and a tablespoon of sugar
• 100 ml oil: 60 ml for the dough and 40 ml for frying the greens and greasing the skillet
• 500 grams 16% feta, 300 grams 5% Tzfatit cheese
• 2 bunches chard, one large onion, 3 cloves garlic and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Choosing ingredients and substitutes

Drain wet cheeses and squeeze the chard. This is a dairy dish; in a kosher kitchen it isn’t made right after meat kada in the same skillet.

Tzfatit cheese and feta are available at every chain in Israel and imitate a salty, crumbly filling well, but you can replace a third of the feta with drained ricotta for a milder filling. In that case, add salt only after tasting. In a kosher kitchen, use a dairy skillet, spatula and work surface; merely wiping out a skillet used for meat doesn’t make it suitable for this pastry.

Method

1. Knead the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, 60 ml of oil and 480 ml of water for 10 minutes; add up to 40 ml of water as needed and let rise for an hour.
2. Fry the onion and garlic in 30 ml of oil, add the chard and pepper and cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Cool and mix in the cheeses.
3. Divide into 20, fill, seal and flatten.
4. Cook in the skillet, greasing it gradually with the remaining 10 ml of oil, 3–4 minutes per side until golden and cooked through.

Nutrition facts and calorie estimate

Variations and tips

• Squeezing the chard by hand after cooling prevents tears and a puddle inside the pastry.
• Taste the cheese mixture before adding salt; Israeli feta varies a lot in saltiness.
• Flatten only after the seam has rested for a few minutes, or the dough will shrink back and tear.
• Reheat in a dry, covered skillet, not in the microwave, which softens the crust.

Summary

Two pieces are about 580 calories. See meat kada and Kurdish cuisine.