Pistachios Baklava | Turkish Baklava | Baklava recipe

Turkish Baklava, a thin pastry layered with nuts which later baked and soaked in sugar-honey syrup. They are absolutely delicious, delicate pastry with crunchy nuts and oozing syrup,OMG, it's very addictive and i started to crave for some now when i have written those lines., you can't just stop by one for sure. 

If you have already tasted this delicious pastry, i'm sure that you agree with me on how delicious it is. If you haven't, you must try to believe what i'm saying here. I couldn't remember when was the first time that i had tasted this yummy sweet, but whenever i see it at any middle easy grocery store/bakery, never forgot to pick.  

Initially i thought that it  was very difficult to make, later i got to know that it can be made easily with the phyllo sheets available in the frozen section of grocery store. Yep, with store bought phyllo sheets, it seems easier to make than the most of the Indian sweets :-) 

So far i have baked baklava a handful of times, every time it turned out finger licking delicious. More than me, ST is a big fan of baklava, that's rare because in our home, i'm known for sweet tooth :-)

Related: Baked Potato Samosa with Phyllo Sheets

I have read lot of recipes before making them. But i'm not sure which one is traditional and how it's been made in Turkey. From my reading, i have understood that Greeks, Lebanese, Turkish and Armenians have their own style of making them and it's difficult to pin point one particular baklava to one specific region., always there is mix of varieties in every regions. 

So here i'm sharing my favorite way of making them. I love to use pistachios and almonds in my baklava, not only it looks tempting, the combination is so good.

Pistachios Baklava | Turkish Baklava

Preparation Time : 15 mins | Cooking Time : 1 hr | Serves : 6 
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Turkey
Almond, Baklava, Desserts, Middle East, Pistachio, Sugar, Sweet, Turkey Turkish Baklava, a thin pastry layered with nuts which later baked and soaked in sugar-honey syrup.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Phyllo sheet - 6
Almond -1/3 cup
Pistachios - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp
Cardamom - 2 tsp
For Syrup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Honey - 2 tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup
Lemon zest - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp 

Procedure

Add the nuts(Almonds & Pistachios ) and cardamom into the blender and blend it coarsely and keep it aside.

Unwrap the phyllo sheets and take the needed 6 sheets and keep the remaining in the refrigerator.

Take one phyllo sheets on the working surface, cover the remaining with damn kitchen cloth, fold into half and brush it with butter all over, again fold into half and brush it with butter all over.

Place that phyllo sheet into buttered baking pan. Do the same for another sheet and place it on the baking pan. Next add half of the nut mixture into the baking pan.

Cover it with two buttered phyllo sheets as we did before and add the remaining nut mixture. 

Cover the top with two buttered phyllo sheets.. Cut them into triangles.

Bake it in the preheated oven for 350F for 50 mins to 1 hr.
In the mean time, add the sugar, honey and 1/4 cup of water into the sauce pan.

Bring into boil and let all the sugar melts. Add the lemon zest and cardamom ,switch off the flame.

Once it's baked, remove from the oven, let it cool for 5 mins and then pour the sugar syrup all over. Let it sit for 2-3 hrs or overnight.

Cut and serve. Delicious Baklava is ready.

Related: Baked Onion Samosa with Phyllo Sheets

Related: More Baking Recipes

Notes:

• Make sure the syrup is also slightly warm when you pour over baklava, if not, reheat for few mins and use it.
• Use sharp knives for perfect cut.
• Soaking time is very important, so let it set for minimum 2 hrs before serving.

Related: Baked Avocado Rolls with Phyllo Sheets

Continue Reading »

Dates Maamoul | Maamoul | Dates Cookie | No Sugar Cookies

Dates Maamoul ,a short bread kind of pastry filled with dates mixture. It's quite famous in middle eastern countries. Few weeks before, i borrowed a book named as "Middle Eastern Basics" from our local library. This book have very detailed explanation for some of the basic recipes of middle eastern countries and i came to know about this cookies from that book and i liked it so much because it's a no-sugar cookie expect the sugar for dusting,that too optional.
And i have all the ingredients in hand,so immediately i tried and it turned out so yummy.Buttery crust with dates on every bite is purely divine.Though this cookies are not authentic christmas cookies, it will be a great gifts to your friends and families during this holiday season and also it will be ideal for those who counts on their sugar intake.

Dates Maamoul

Preparation Time : 15 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Makes : 10 
Recipe Category: Cookies | Recipe Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Ingredients
Dates(pitted) - 20
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Butter - 1/3 cup + 2 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Milk - as needed
Powdered sugar for dusting(optional).

Procedure

First let's make the inner stuffing, take the dates and cut into small pieces, heat 2 tsp of butter in a sauce pan.Once the butter is all melted, add the chopped dates and cook it on low flame till it becomes mushy and turns into single mass.Switch off the flame and let it cool.Now for the outer layer, take the flour in a bowl, add the salt, 1/3 cups of butter & vanilla extract, mix it well with flour till it looks like a crumb. Now add milk little by little to form a dough. The dough should be easily pliable. Divide the dough into 10 equal parts.Similarly divide the dates mixture into 10 equal parts. Take a dough and spread it with your fingers like a small disc,place the dates ball into the dough.Seal the edges together well and keep the sealed edges downside and roll into round shape using your palm, do the same for the remaining dough and dates mixture and place it in the baking tray.Take a fork and press it on the cookie to give nice impression and bake it in the preheated oven at 300F for 20 to 25 mins. Remove from the oven and cool it in the wire rack completely before serving.That's it. Tasty Dates Maamoul cookie is ready.

Notes:

• These cookies must not brown,so after 20 to 25 mins, tap the surface of the cookie,it should resist the pressure slightly. if it's too soft then cook it for  few more mins and check again. 
• Butter should be at room temperature.
• You can omit the salt to the dough if you're using salted butter.
• The original recipe calls for Orange blossom water, as i dont have i used vanilla extract.
• As i pressed very lightly with fork on the cookies, the impression is not visible once it's baked,so press it firmly if you want nice impression on the top.
  

Continue Reading »

Tahini | Home made Tahini

Today condiment recipe is Tahini from Middle East. Tahini is a paste made from the sesame seed. Mostly white sesame seed is used to make this, but in some place, black seed also use. It's the one of the key ingredients for making hummus.It hat lot of nutritional factors as wiki says

             "Tahini is an excellent source of copper, manganese and the amino acid methionine. Tahini is a source of the healthy fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6.It made from raw sesame seeds is lower in fat than tahini made from roasted seeds.Tahini's relatively high levels of calcium and protein make it a useful addition to vegetarian and vegan diets, as well as to raw food diets when eaten in its unroasted form. Compared to peanut butter, tahini has higher levels of fiber and calcium and lower levels of sugar and saturated fats".

Home made Tahini

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Makes : 1/4 cup 
Recipe Category: Sauce | Recipe Cuisine: Middle East

Ingredients

White Sesame Seed - 1/4 cup

Sesame oil - 2 tbsp

Procedure

Dry roast the sesame till it becomes golden brown.Let it cool.Put it in mixie, coarse it , then add oil & grind it to smooth paste.Add oil more or less according to the consistency of tahini you want.Homemade Tahini Paste is ready.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 56

An InLinkz Link-up

Continue Reading »