{"id":8515,"date":"2026-10-26T18:39:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T09:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8515"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:51:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:51:03","slug":"khanfaroosh","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/khanfaroosh\/","title":{"rendered":"Khanfaroosh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Khanfaroosh (\u062e\u0646\u0641\u0631\u0648\u0634) is a small sweet from the Gulf region, made by cooking a dough containing eggs and sugar in oil. It is known in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and elsewhere, and it is flavored with aromatics such as cardamom, rose water and saffron. It is shaped like a small fried cake or a thick disc. The outside is golden brown, while the inside keeps the softness of an egg dough.<\/p>\n

Luqaimat<\/a>, another Gulf fried sweet, is known for its round pieces of dough topped with syrup. In khanfaroosh, by contrast, the flavor and aroma come from the dough itself, which contains eggs and sugar. Some methods do not soak it in syrup at all and serve it warm, straight from the fryer.<\/p>\n

\"Khanfaroosh<\/p>\n

Khanfaroosh bought at a market in Qatar. It is a small round piece that can be held in the hand. Photo: GiveMeMollusks, 2025-08-01, Souq Waqif, Doha, Qatar. Original image<\/a> \/ CC0<\/a>. Reduced-size version from the hosting source, with no additional editing.<\/p>\n

A Sweet Passed Down in Homes and Sweet Shops<\/h2>\n

Khanfaroosh is made not only in Bahrain but throughout the Gulf. In Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, it is also counted among the traditional sweet-making crafts. In Bahrain, it is also made at home in preparation for Ramadan. Small pieces of fried dough served while still warm suit both sweets eaten at home and sweets sold in shops.<\/p>\n

Some pronunciations of the name are close to “hamfaroosh.” Its inventor and the year it was first made are unknown, and it also cannot be established that it came from another sweet with a similar-sounding name.<\/p>\n

At a sweet shop in Ras Al Khaimah, a maker from the Philippines learned local sweet-making from the shop owner and turned khanfaroosh into the shop’s specialty. A 2018 report described how the maker keeps the recipe as a shop secret while sharing the work with relatives. Besides being passed down within families, the skills can also be passed on to people who work in shops.<\/p>\n

A hotel in Dubai has also created a dish inspired by this sweet. According to reports from 2023\u201324, chef Christophe Devoille serves it as an almond-paste crepe combined with cheese, black sesame, saffron and local honey. This is not a direct reproduction of the small pieces fried at home. It is a restaurant creation that reworks the aromas and ingredients into a different texture.<\/p>\n

Frying Egg Dough a Little at a Time<\/h2>\n

The dough is made by combining wheat flour, rice flour, sugar, eggs, water and other ingredients. The ratio of rice flour to wheat flour and the use of leavening agents vary. Because the dough contains a lot of liquid, some methods do not roll it out and cut it like bread. Instead, they put it into the oil a little at a time with a spoon or similar tool. When the pieces are turned and fried on both sides, they become round and thick, or spread out with thin edges.<\/p>\n

In one example presented by a consumer cooperative in the United Arab Emirates, a dough of rice flour and wheat flour is left to rest and then poured by the spoonful into a frying pan coated with a little oil. Besides frying in plenty of oil, it can also be cooked in a lightly oiled pan.<\/p>\n

The recipe (the proportions of ingredients and the method) published by the Bahraini flour company Bahrain Flour Mills adds semolina to self-raising wheat flour. Eggs and sugar are combined, water and rose water are added, and then the dry ingredients are mixed in, followed by cardamom. After resting covered for 30 minutes, the batter is put into the oil one spoonful at a time and fried until golden brown on both sides. This formulation makes the most of the aromas of rose water and cardamom.<\/p>\n

A method using semolina also appears in the Gulf cookbook Traditional Dishes of Arabian Gulf, first published in 1996. A soft dough is made from semolina, eggs, cardamom and other ingredients, shaped into thick rounds and fried. In contrast, a home recipe that a school in Bahrain published in its 2021 Ramadan newsletter combines rice flour and wheat flour and uses eggs, rose water, cardamom and saffron. The dough rests for 30 minutes, is dropped from a spoon and is fried on both sides. Although the flour combinations and aromas differ, the basic method of frying small portions of egg dough is shared.<\/p>\n

\"Bahraini<\/p>\n

Bahraini khanfaroosh piled on a tray. The degree of browning and the shapes vary. Photo: Aysha Ali Alzayed, 2025-03-07, location unknown. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version from the hosting source, with no additional editing.<\/p>\n

Yellow Color and Combined Aromas<\/h2>\n

When saffron is added, its aroma and yellow color pass into the dough. Cardamom is ground and mixed in, and rose water is added as a liquid ingredient. A distinctive feature is that the aromatics are not just scattered on the surface but scent the inside of the dough. Because eggs also add color, a yellow cross-section alone does not prove that saffron has been used.<\/p>\n

The flour company’s formulation uses rose water and cardamom, while the school newsletter also adds saffron. The choice of which aromas to combine also shows the range of home recipes.<\/p>\n

\"Schematic<\/p>\n

Left: the step of dropping soft dough into oil. Right: the thickness of the small fried sweet. The diagram does not show the actual diameter, oil temperature or number of air bubbles in the cross-section. Schematic diagram, not to scale. Diagram: original illustration by Sweetlore.<\/p>\n

\n\"Blade\n
A blade grinder used to separate cardamom seeds from their pods (2009, location unknown). The seeds and pods used for flavoring are visible. Photo: GrammarFascist \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Image obtained from the hosting source. No content changes or cropping were made for this use.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Christophe Devoille<\/strong>: An executive pastry chef who created an afternoon tea inspired by Gulf sweets at a hotel in Dubai.<\/p>

Traditional Dishes of Arabian Gulf<\/strong>: A Gulf cookbook by A. O. Musaiger. The 1996 first edition includes khanfaroosh made with semolina.<\/p>

Luqaimat<\/strong>: A Gulf sweet made by frying small pieces of dough into balls and topping them with syrup or similar.<\/p>

Self-raising flour<\/strong>: Wheat flour with leavening agents already mixed in.<\/p>

Semolina<\/strong>: Coarsely ground wheat. Some khanfaroosh formulations use it.<\/p>

Cardamom<\/strong>: A plant whose seeds are used as a spice. It is used to flavor the dough.<\/p>

Saffron<\/strong>: A spice made from the dried stigmas of a flower. It adds a yellow color and aroma.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. \n

    Croissant, “Dubai’s Restaurant Scene Grows More Appealing as Its Culinary Pleasures Diversify” (in Japanese), December 15, 2023<\/a> \u2014 The Royal Tea Room’s almond-paste crepe dish with honey, cheese, saffron and black sesame, and an interview with the chef. A modern creative example.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  2. \n

    CREA, “A Dream Afternoon Tea at a Luxury Hotel in Dubai” (in Japanese), March 13, 2024<\/a> \u2014 Coverage of the same venue and chef, distinguishing the common fried sweet from the restaurant creation.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  3. \n

    Union Coop, “Khanfroush”<\/a> \u2014 A formulation of rice flour, wheat flour, eggs and spices poured into a lightly oiled frying pan. The published steps go only as far as pouring the batter.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  4. \n

    Bahrain Flour Mills, “Khanfaroosh”<\/a> \u2014 The flour company’s formulation with semolina, rested for 30 minutes and fried on both sides. The ingredients and all steps were read directly in earlier research.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  5. \n

    Bahrain Bayan School, “School\u2019s Weekly,” April 22, 2021, PDF page 6<\/a> \u2014 An example of a home formulation for Ramadan using rice flour and wheat flour. The relevant page was read directly in earlier research.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  6. \n

    A. O. Musaiger, “Traditional Dishes of Arabian Gulf,” first edition 1996, printed p. 38<\/a> \u2014 One version using semolina. PDF page 46 was read visually in full in earlier research.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  7. \n

    Saudipedia, “Liste des artisanats de la province orientale”<\/a> \u2014 A list of traditional crafts in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, including sweet-making. It does not give formulations or a year of origin.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  8. \n

    The National, “Portrait of a Nation,” 2018<\/a> \u2014 An interview with a maker who learned the craft at a shop in Ras Al Khaimah. The relevant passages were read directly in earlier research.<\/p>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Khanfaroosh (\u062e\u0646\u0641\u0631\u0648\u0634) is a small sweet from the Gulf region, made by frying a dough containing eggs and sugar in oil. It is known in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and elsewhere, and it is flavored with aromatics such as cardamom, rose water and saffron. It is shaped like a small fried cake or a thick disc. The outside is golden brown, while the inside keeps the softness of an egg dough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7612,"menu_order":286,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Khanfaroosh","subtitle":"A Craft Shared by Homes and Sweet Shops","topics":"Egg dough fried a little at a time \/ The aroma of cardamom and rose water \/ A taste of Gulf homes and sweet shops","country":"Gulf region, including Bahrain and the UAE","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["egg","grain"],"texture":[],"occasion":[],"method":["fried"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[169],"class_list":["post-8515","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t