From Hyderabad to Mumbai, Indian chocolatiers give a local twist to the global Kunafa chocolate trend
A sweet storm that started in Dubai has now swept across India’s dessert landscape. What began as a pregnancy craving for Emirati chocolatier Sarah Hamouda in 2021 has become a viral sensation—milk chocolate filled with creamy pistachio, layered with crispy kataifi pastry, inspired by the traditional Middle Eastern knafeh. Dubbed Can’t Get Knafeh of It, the creation became a TikTok phenomenon and set off a pistachio-powered dessert wave worldwide, reported timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
Now, Indian brands are putting their own decadent, delightful spins on it—and customers can’t get enough.
Kunafa-inspired chocolates and desserts are now the bestselling stars at top Indian patisseries
The report quoted chef Ashmeet Singh Dua. In Hyderabad, Dua’s brand Xocolatl saw its identity transformed when he launched a kunafa pistachio chocolate bar in September 2023.
“Hyderabad already loves kunafa. The moment we introduced it with creamy pistachio and imported kataifi crunch, it just took off,” Dua was quoted as saying in the report.
His versions now include Nutella, Lotus Biscoff, and salted caramel variants. “Celebrities have tried it, and it’s still our best-seller. This isn’t a fad—it’s a movement.”
At Manam Chocolate, an award-winning craft chocolatier also based in Hyderabad, the bar has evolved into a layered dessert spectacle called The Kunafa Stack.
It blends house-made custard, pistachio cake crumbs, mulberries, granola, chopped dates, and a generous pour of molten Manam chocolate. Topped with crisp kataifi and served with gelato, it’s a festival in a bowl.
“The demand during Ramzan led to its creation,” says Ruby Islam, head chef. “People kept asking for something crunchy and chocolatey like the Dubai bar.”
The trend’s boldness has sparked a dessert innovation race across the country
The report cited Pooja Dhingra’s brand Le15 Patisserie. In Mumbai, macaron queen Dhingra of Le15 Patisseriereimagined the viral chocolate into a French-style tart.
Her kunafa chocolate pistachio tart features a buttery shell filled with pistachio cream, toasted kunafa, and dark chocolate ganache, topped with a pistachio macaron. “Trends like these push you creatively, though they come with pressure to stay constantly ahead,” Dhingra said..
Paul And Mike from Kochi jumped into the trend with speed and strategy. Their kataifi-wrapped pistachio chocolate bar was developed swiftly to ride the wave of virality. “The innovation cycle is now compressed. We wanted first-mover advantage and grabbed it,” says founder Vikas Temani.
Some Indian chocolatiers have even gone hyperlocal in their spin on the trend
Chitra’m Craft Chocolates in Coimbatore used nool peni, a traditional South Indian sweet made with deep-fried vermicelli, ghee, and sugar, instead of kataifi.
Founder Arun Viswanathan named his bar Dubai Return—a cheeky nod to its roots and reinvention. “Nool peni has that same crispy texture. But we layered it with saffron, rose, gulkand, and pistachio. It’s familiar, but it surprises.”
Poetry by Love and Cheesecake, a café chain in Delhi, jumped into the mix with a Chocolate Mango Kunafa Cheesecake—a seasonal, sunny twist that’s already seeing repeat orders. “We’ve never done anything like this before,” says chef Amit Sharma, “but people love it, and we’re planning more kunafa experiments.”
From kataifi to nool peni, Indian dessert creators are making the Dubai chocolate trend their own—one layer at a time
As pistachio-laced innovations take over dessert menus, one thing is clear: this Middle Eastern-inspired sensation is now part of India’s sweet tooth story. With global textures and local flair, the knafeh wave shows no sign of slowing down.
