Baklawa : Middle Eastern Luxury

A few guests were coming up last weekend. Its a difficult choice of cooking while some one has to come specially to you for food. I had to prepare few things for the week ahead and something for the night…. I was afraid of trying something new at first, so thought of many tried and tested options for dessert. But my heart was longing for this authentic Greek Delicacy Baklava… Searched quite a few recipes over net for the easiest one 😛 Didn’t have ample of time ready for it. But what I got at the end was the best thing I have had ever.. Its beyond tasty.. Straight away the Award for the best dessert I have cooked so far…

Baklava is a luxurious dessert originated from Greek or Turkey. Both the groups claim this to be their own. Doesn’t matter to us though: D … Anywaz, it was considered to be a rich man’s delight coz of its high nuts content. Although it seems very difficult to actually prepare it from scratch, surprisingly its not that complicated either. With a little patience and care you can get exactly what you craved for, off course, we learn from our mistakes. So did I.. Will share those at the end. But ladies, beware of the high fat content, its very high in calories… I still enjoyed it though. Try ur will power with this :P.. And if you do plz let me know what happened at the end. Off course you will fail, I just wanted to know the number you had J

Ingredients:

1. 10-12 sheets of Filo Dough ( I took a whole packet from Tesco )

2. 1 cup of grounded walnuts

3. 1 cup of grounded Pistachios ( I didn’t have any, so substituted with almonds & Cashews )

4. ¼ cup of melted unsalted butter

5. ½ cup sugar
For the Syrup:

1. 1 cup water

2. 1 cup sugar

3. ¼ cup honey

4. 1 tbsp lemon juice

5. 1 tsp Rose essence

6. ½ stick of cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.

2. Take a large rectangular baking pan. Brush it generously with butter.

3. Combine grounded nuts and sugar together and mix well.

4. Take 4 filo sheets. Crumble them lightly with hands and place them over the greased baking sheet. This step is important to avoid sticking the sheets after baking. They will be moist and crumbly rather than flaky which is good. Brush them with butter on top.

5. Now spread another 3 sheets over the crumbled sheets applying butter between them. Apply butter even more generously over the top most layer and spread the ground nuts mix over it evenly.

6. Repeat the Step No. 5 for three more times. The top should be covered with at least 4 filo sheets and butter should be very generous on top or else it will get flaky.

7. Cut the layers with a sharp and long knife into squares or triangles. Do it carefully as mine got a bit messy while doing this.

8. Bake it in the preheated oven for 35-40 min.

9. Meanwhile, prepare the sugar syrup. Boil water and add sugar and cinnamon. Simmer on medium for next 10 minutes.

10. Add honey and simmer for another 5 min. It should be of 1 string consistency.

11. Finally add lemon juice and Rose essence. Simmer for 1 more minute and turn off the flame. Keep aside till the oven is on.

12. After the baklava is baked enough with golden on top, keep it aside for half an hour at room temperature.

13. After half an hour, pour the syrup on top, specially between the edges of squares. Do it with a teaspoon to attain better reach in between.

14. Keep aside for another hour. Remember that’s the minimum time for keeping it untouched. I understand it’s very difficult but if you won’t do it, the syrup will not be absorbed fully by the nuts and you will miss the exotic taste.

15. After it’s done, Sprinkle some chopped Pistachios on top and if you have any remaining syrup, drizzle it over.