Baklava

Which 'Sweet' is Sweet,Crunchy,Buttery,Gooeey,Nutty...all at the same time?? And the answer is.............BAKLAVA is a 'sweet lovers' winner for sure! The variety of textures and depth of flavors it offers is just phenomenal and promises to satisfy the 'sweetest of the sweet tooth' :))

I made these for a friend, for her to take to her "International Business class about Turkey" as a treat after the presentation. It was a great 'project" for me..to estimate the cost, estimate how much each ingredient I will need to make the 50 pieces that she needed, how many pans and what size pieces to cut! All in all...It was a good brain workout:)
Ingredients:
1 lb Athens Fillo Pastry Sheets (I used 30 sheets)
1 stick unsalted butter
Butter flavored Cooking spray

Filling:

10 oz Almonds
10 oz Walnuts
2/3rd cup Sugar
1tsp Cinnamon powder
Zest of 2 lemons/ zest of 1 orange
1/2tsp salt
Few pieces of Pistachios for decoration

Syrup:
1.5 cups  Sugar
1.5 cups water
3/4 cup Honey
2 slices of lemon
few drops Rose essence

1) Thaw the Fillo sheets as per packet directions
2) Toast the Almonds and Walnuts separately in the oven/ microwave till slightly toasted ( 4-5 min in microwave, remove every minute and turn the nuts...otherwise they burn) Let them cool
3) In a blender pulse the nuts till coarse along with sugar, cinnamon, zest salt etc.OR chop nuts with a knife.
4) Preheat the oven to 350F
5) Brush a 8in x 12in Pan with butter or coat with butter flavored cooking spray
6) I did this pattern for assembly---(15 sheets Fillo---then nuts layer---then 5 sheets fillo---then nuts layer---and finally 10 sheets fillo) 
Details-Place1 sheet of fillo on the bottom.Spray with cooking spray/ brush evenly with butter.Repeat for the 15 sheets. Then spread half of the nuts mixture. Then place 5 fillo sheets (spreading butter in between each sheet). Then spread remaining half of nuts mixture.Then the 10 fillo sheets (spreading butter in between each sheet) and on top of the last sheet.
LIFE SAVER:  I sprayed the butter flavored cooking spray on the sheets that had broken.Spreading butter on those was really hard.
7) After the assembly, cut with a sharp knife into 30 square pieces ( 6 vertical lines by 5 horizontal lines) Place a small piece of Pistachio in the center of each piece.
8) Bake uncovered for 40 mins till golden
9) Remove from oven and let it cool uncovered for 1and 1/2 hrs
10) Syrup: Mix sugar, honey, lemon slices, rose essence, water in a pot. Bring to a boil. After it comes to a boil...boil for 10 mins. Let it cool till lukewarm
11) Pour the warm syrup on the baked Baklava. Let it soak overnight or several hours. Cut again on the same lines as  before and serve at room temperature.

Store at room temperature for upto 5 days. 

Same Filling as above in the Fillo Cups, garnished with dried Cranberry and topped with 1 tsp sugar-honey syrup

" Sweet Treats" - Filo Cups with Sweet Coconut, Raisins and Nuts

I love taking traditional recipes and using the ingredients involved, in different manner or presenting them differently.It can create a whole new dish or can brighten up the recipe so much that you end up making the newly created dish often rather than the traditional one!
Here is one example of this!

I love the 'Sweet Coconut' Karanjis that are typically made as dessert for Indian festivals. I took the 'coconut filling' idea from the karanjis, brightened it up with nuts and raisins and filled it in the buttery, crunchy filo cups!Now you have a whole new 'dessert' which is sweet-crunchy-eye pleasing-classy looking and tasty too!
Come on ...dig in with your Sweet tooth!

Ingredients:
1 box of Filo cups,pre baked( 15 cups)
3/4 cup fresh grated/ frozen coconut
1/3rd cup sugar(use less for less sweet filling)
1tsp poppy seeds
1/2tsp Cardamom powder
1/4tsp Nutmeg powder
1tbsp raisins
1tsp cashews
1tsp Pistachios
1tsp almonds
2 tbsp milk

Method:
1) Mix together coconut, sugar,milk, cardamom, nutmeg, raisin, poppy seeds and other nuts and cook on low flame till cooked and the filling is translucent and dry.Let it cool

2) Warm the Filo cups for 3-4 mins at 350 F for added crispness(as directed on the package)
3) Fill a spoonful of the coconut filling in the filo cups.Garnish with poppy seeds, sliced almonds and pistachios.

You will love the Sweet Coconut-Raisin-Nuts in the crisp Filo Shells!

"Appetizers"-Spicy Phyllo Kachoris

With new baby 'A' and preschooler 'E' on hand, you can imagine how 'superfull' my hands are right now! Since Diwali is always special....I couldn't resist making some simple recipes. I did not try out some thing drastically different but gave some old tried recipes a twist and made some new ones!
This one is a fusion of 'Bakarvadi' and 'Kachori'.Since, I was sure I wouldn't have time to make the dough for either, I used these super versatile Phyllo cups( I am in love with  these cups! You can use them to fill so many different things) and they are ready in no time!

Ingredients:
2 pks of mini Phyllo cups( pre baked, 15 cups in each pack)

For the filling:
1/2 cup dry grated coconut/ coconut powder
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
1/4cup Thin sev
1tsp Goda masala (maharashtrian curry powder)
1/2tsp garam masala
1/2tsp tamarind extract ( or use tamarind jaggery chutney-- heat jaggery in little water till thick paste,add tamarind extract)
OR
1tsp sugar/jaggery (you can add more)

1/2tsp chili powder (depends on how spicy you want)
1/2 tsp Cumin-coriander powder
salt to taste

Method:

1) Dry roast the sesame seeds till very light brown.

2) To the same pan, add the dry coconut powder.Roast till golden brown.

3)Take off the heat and and then add spices, sugar, salt, tamarind,jaggery,sev.Mix well.This filling should be spicy and sweet-tangy.

4) Heat the phyllo cups on a baking sheet at 350F for 3-4 mins for extra crispness.Let them cool.

5) Fill with above coconut filling and top with extra sev.Serve immediately.

Enjoy the spicy 'bakarwadi style' filling in crisp Phyllo cups!!