Online PHP editor | output for tqUm9

<?php $arr = array("A" => "aa", "B" => ["A" => "aaa", "B" => "bb"], "C" => "cc", "D" => ["E" =>"ee"]); function array_filter_recursive(array &$array, callable $callback) { foreach ($array as $key => &$value) { if ($callback($key, $value)) unset($array[$key]); else if (is_array($value)) array_filter_recursive($value, $callback); } } function sanitizedArray(&$arr, $restricted, $keys = false) { foreach($restricted as $val) { array_filter_recursive($arr, function($k, $v) use ($val, $keys) {return $keys ? ($val === $k) : ($val === $v);}); } } sanitizedArray($arr, ["A","E", "D"], true); print_r($arr);