Sunday 12/October/2025 – 07:39 PM
The method of making manen, or as it is called qaraqish, varies from one chef to another. Manen can be prepared with oil only, or with oil and ghee. Manen can also be prepared plain, or with malban and ajwa fillings. The most important point in the method of making manen is to control the amounts and adhere to the preparation steps that we monitor for you in this report via Cairo 24 to enjoy delicious homemade baked goods for breakfast or dinner with cups. Milk tea.
How menin works
Chef Marwa Al-Shafi’i explained how to make manein with many important secrets related to filling the manein. Buying malban from a confectioner’s supplies store provided that it is malban intended for filling so that it is soft and not stone-cold. In the case of manein with ajwa, the ajwa must be softened over low heat with the addition of ghee and a very little water, stirred, then spread on a stretch bag so that it is easy to cut after it has cooled. We explain the amounts and method of making the minin to you as follows:

Minin amounts
- 3 cups flour.
- A tablespoon of sugar.
- A pinch of salt.
- A tablespoon of instant yeast.
- Half a cup of ghee.
- A quarter cup of oil.
- Warm water for kneading.
- To decorate the face: sesame.
- Egg beaten with milk and vanilla.
- To fill the minna: malban or ajwa.

How to make menin with ajwa
- Put the flour in a large bowl, add salt, stir the mixture, then add the sugar and instant yeast.
- Add the ghee and oil mixture, then gradually pour in the warm water while kneading the ingredients together.
- Once the ingredients are mixed and a smooth dough is formed, stop pouring the water, then knead it on a kitchen counter.
- After the Qaraqish dough turns into a soft, non-sticky dough in the hand, place it in a bowl and let it ferment while covered.
- The fermentation time for the manin dough takes only about one hour, then divide the dough into two parts and then spread the dough with a rolling pin.
- Place the ajwa slices on the manin dough, then roll out the second part of the dough with a rolling pin and place it on top of the ajwa.
- Level the manin dough filled with dough from the edges and spread it with your hands to make sure it is even, then cut it with a knife.
- Cut the manin dough lengthwise, then cut it crosswise to obtain suitable sized manin units.
- Arrange the minced meat on a baking sheet and brush it with an egg beaten with milk and vanilla using a silicone brush.
- Sprinkle sesame over the mini units, then place the sheet pan in the oven at 180 degrees for only 10 to 13 minutes.
How to make manin with a kilogram of flour
The second recipe in how to make manin, we present to you in the amount of a kilogram of flour and with the addition of some aromatic ingredients that make the plain Qaraqish recipe delicious and rich in taste and aroma, as follows:
Manen amounts in kilograms of flour
- A kilo of flour.
- A tablespoon of ground anise.
- A spoon of ground fennel.
- A spoon of mahlab.
- A spoon of instant yeast.
- Two tablespoons of sugar.
- A pinch of salt.
- A cup of oil on ghee.
- Warm water for kneading.

How to make plain menin
- Put the flour in a deep bowl and add the anise and fennel, preferably ground.
- Add the mahlab, instant yeast, sugar, and a pinch of salt, and mix the dry ingredients together.
- Pour the oil and ghee mixture and rub the ingredients with your hands until the flour particles mix with the fatty substance.
- Now gradually pour warm water with continuous kneading until a cohesive dough is formed.
- Knead the qaraqish or manin dough, then knead it, put it in a bowl, and let it ferment for half an hour.
- Unroll the mini dough, then roll it into a roll along the length of a floured kitchen counter.
- Level the edges of the dough roll and make it take a perfect cylindrical shape, then cut the roll crosswise with a pizza cutter.
- You will get as many units as equal in size as possible, and arrange them in a greased baking tray.
- Bake the plain manin in the oven at a low temperature until it is cooked from the inside without burning quickly.
- Finally, take out the minna and if you want it crispy, leave it to air, but if you want it soft, put it in a box and close it.