Braiding is something all girls know and today the kind of braiding I am going to show you can easily be done by boys too. So everyone get your aprons ready as you would want to try out the easy and delicious recipe that we are going to learn today — braided puff pastry.

This snack is ideal to serve in Iftar in the upcoming Ramazan, and anything available at home, whether sweet or savoury can be used as the filling. I used a vegetable and chicken filling that my mum made for rolls that she was making to freeze for Ramazan. The filling comprised boneless chicken made with chicken tikka masala, and veggies such as carrots, cabbage, capsicum and spring onion stir-fried, and all mixed together.

You can use any filling, or add cheese to a filling like mine, and follow the same process of cutting and braiding the puff pastry dough to get a nice snack time treat. This recipe can also be made with pizza dough instead of puff pastry.

Ingredients

• 500g puff pastry, almost at room temperature

• 2 cups cooked chicken and vegetable filling

• 1 egg, beaten for brushing

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.

Defrost the puff pastry to almost room temperature. A slightly cooler dough is easier to handle and roll out as a completely defrosted one can be very sticky.

Roll out into a rectangular shape. With a knife, draw two lines to divide the dough into three equal parts lengthwise. Now cut about inch-wide strips on both sides and place the filling in the centre uncut patch.

Now start folding the strips one by one to overlap each other and cover the filling completely, without gaps. Close the ends.

Brush with beaten egg and bake for about 20-25 minutes on a baking sheet. Turn the top grill on and give the top a golden touch. Cut into pieces and serve warm. This can be reheated in both the microwave and an oven.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 11th, 2020