- 1 pound mozzarella curd
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon nigella seeds
- Cut the mozzarella curd into small pieces and place them in a Teflon pan. Add the salt and nigella seeds.
- Heat the cheese on low, stirring, until it is melted thoroughly and there are no lumps left.
- Remove the cheese from the heat and drain off the excess water in a colander.
- While the cheese is still very warm but cool enough to handle, pick it up in a large lump and poke a hole in the center with your fingers, so that the cheese resembles a large doughnut.
- You will need to work very quickly at this point because the cheese cools down rapidly once it has been stretched. You’ll have about 3 minutes to stretch the cheese. Grab it with both hands and stretch it so that it forms a large loop. Stick your finger through each end of the loop, and very quickly start winding the two strands of the loop around each other, as if you were making a rope while winding. Keep stretching the cheese gently, almost to the breaking point. The more you stretch, the stringier the cheese will be. When finished, you should have a length of cheese that resembles a thick rope or a tightly wrung-out dish cloth.
- Twist the ends of the cheese in opposite directions and intertwine the rope into a braid. Place one end through the loop of the other to lock it.
- Set the cheese aside in the refrigerator or in a cool room for about an hour to dry thoroughly. Wrap the cheese in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze it; it will keep for a week in the refrigerator and up to 2 months in the freezer.
- To serve the cheese, open the braid, cut one loop, and pull the cheese apart into thin strands. Serve with pita bread.