Hungarian Purim: Kindl
No kindl, has nothing to do with the eponymous ereader . Kindl is an almost forgotten Hungarian Jewish pastry that deserves to be remembered. Kindl is made of pastry stretched so thin you’re hardly meant to notice it . Inside is a tantalizingly sweet and tangy mixture of walnut chunks, raisins, lemon juice, sugar and jam.
In my online meanderings I learned that Hungarian non Jews make a similar pastry but theirs is called “teszta.” Food historian Gil Marks says the name kindl comes from the Yiddish word “kind” which means child . According to Marks these cakes represent Haman’s large family. Haman had ten sons, and he gave each of them a long and almost unpronounceable Persian name. Remember that breath stopping moment during the Megilla reading when all ten names are read in one breath?
Though in the end, the wicked sons were hung together with their father, some of Haman’s grandchildren converted to Judaism and became Torah scholars in the holy city of Bnai Brak. In Israel today, there are children of ex Nazis who have made the same switch . Isn’t that one awesome statement about human potential and our freedom to make choices.
But back to kindl. My mother was a great kindl baker. Her Mishloach Manot (Purim gift baskets) invariably contained the pastry but she ‘cheated.” She bought kindl dough from a Chassidic manufacturer who made the stuff . All she had to do was to roll it out and fill it.
My grocery doesn’t stock kindl dough and flakey pastry isn’t a good substitute. But kindl dough isn’t that hard to make . With my sturdy standing mixer to help, I was able to put together a very close approximation of my mother’s dough in under 10 minutes flat.
One nice thing about kindl is that you can make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it. The dough will keep in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for much longer.

Kindl
Dough recipe adapted from Tzippora Kreisman’s “Delights of the Jewish Kitchen”
3 and ½ cups of flour
1 and ¼ teaspoons of instant yeast
Juice of one lemon
1 egg plus one egg yolk
1 cup (200 gm) margarine or butter softened
2 ½ tablespoons of sugar
Dissolve the yeast in the juice. Add eggs. Using the paddle attachment of a standing mixer add the margarine, sugar and flour.
Mix together on a low setting until the dough forms a ball.
Cover the ball of dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least two hours (you can leave it there for up to three days. If you’re going to be leaving it for longer, then freeze)
Filling
11 oz or one and ½ cups of walnuts (300 grams of walnuts)
½ cup of raisins
Sugar to taste . (around 1/3 cup is probably just about right)
Juice of one lemon (don’t use bottle lemon juice)
Combine all of the above in food processor using the blade attachment. Pulse briefly just enough so that the ingredients bind together and create a lumpy mixture not a smooth paste. (think cottage cheese rather than cream cheese)
½ cup apricot jam
Preparation
Divide the dough ball into two equal parts—these will be your kindls.
On a well floured surface roll out the dough until it’s as thin are you can stretch it without tearing. You want to create two or three long rectangles. (approximately 12 to 14 inches long and 4 to 5 inches wide)
(It will feel like a rolled pie crust)
Smear apricot jam and over that smear the walnut filling. Roll up jelly roll style
Brush with an egg yolk
Prick several times with a fork
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F or 180 C for ½ hour or until brown.
The kindl will keep for up to several weeks without refrigeration. You can freeze it.

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