Turkish Baklava Recipe From Scratch

Baklava is a crunchy, nutty, sweet with a hint of lemon & cinnamon. You can indulge in all the flavors & elements of this dessert in one bite.  Vivatta Maida, Salt, Lemon juice, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lukewarm Water, Corn flour, Vivatta Maida, Pistachios, Whole Almonds (Badam), Cashew nuts, Cinnamon Powder (Dalchini), Butter (Unsalted), Sugar, Water, Honey, Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini), Cloves (Laung), Cinnamon Powder (Dalchini), Nutmeg powder, Lemon juice, Lemon zest   For Phyllo dough: 1 cup Vivatta Maida 1/8 teaspoon Salt , (a pinch) 2 teaspoons Lemon juice 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil 3/8 cup Lukewarm Water , (divided-1/4 + 1/8) For Rolling out phyllo pastry sheets: 50 grams Corn flour 50 grams Vivatta Maida For Filling: 1/3 cup Pistachios , chopped & toasted lightly 1/3 cup Whole Almonds (Badam) , chopped & toasted lightly 1/3 cup Cashew nuts , chopped & toasted lightly 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder (Dalchini) For Topping: 120 grams Butter (Unsalted) For Honey Syrup: 1/2 cup Sugar 1-1/2 cup Water 1/2 cup Honey 1 inch Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini) 3 Cloves (Laung) 1 pinch Cinnamon Powder (Dalchini) 1 pinch Nutmeg powder 1 teaspoon Lemon juice 1 teaspoon Lemon zest     50   60     To begin making Turkish Baklava Recipe From Scratch, prepare the homemade phyllo sheet first. *Making of Phyllo sheet:Mix all purpose flour, salt, olive oil & lemon juice together in a mixing bowl.Take warm water and add it to flour mixture gradually until it forms smooth dough. Let it stand for atleast an hour.After an hour, divide the dough into two & make about 16 small balls from each & sprinkle some starch mixture over them.Take one of the balls & roll it out as thin as you can, with the help of a rolling pin. (My baking tray was of 14 cm circular tray so I rolled out phyllo sheet to completely fit in the baking tray. You can measure it as per your requirement and roll the sheets)Your hand should be visible through the sheet when it is completely rolled out. Sprinkle some starch mixture over it and put it aside covering it with a damp towel.Roll out other balls in the same way and put them on the each other sprinkling the starch mixture between their layers. Keep phyllo sheets covered with a damp towel.*Nuts mixture:Put nuts in a food processor and pulse until they are coarsely grounded. Add sugar and grounded cinnamon to it and mix. Keep aside*Assembling of Baklava:Preheat the oven at 180C. Brush baking tray with butter.Place 10 phyllo sheets into baking tray one at a time, brushing each sheet with butter.Spread 1/3 cup of nuts mixture over layered phyllo sheets.Now again place 6 layers of phyllo sheets in to baking tray at a time, brushing each sheet with butter. This time brush it gently or just drizzle butter so that nutty layer doesn’t get disturbed.Again spread 1/3 cup of nuts mixture and place 6 layers of phyllo sheets applying butter in between the layers.Spread 1/3 cup of nuts mixture and place the last 10 layers of phyllo sheets applying butter in between layers. Brush top layer with butter gently.Now use a thin & sharp knife to cut it in to square or diamond shape pieces. This step is very important because if you skip it, you can’t get perfect pieces once it is baked.Bake this in preheated oven at 180C for 10 minutes and then at 170C for 20 minutes and at 140C for 30 minutes. CHeck with your oven settings since each oven differs in its heating capabilities.*Making of Honey syrup:In the meantime when the baklava is baking, make honey syrup.Take all the ingredient for honey syrup in a sauce pan & bring it to boil, then let it simmer for 20 – 30 minutes until it gets soft ball consistency.Take baklava from the oven once done & pour honey syrup over it generously.Sprinkle some nuts mixture over it. Let it cool for about 30 minutes before serving. You can serve it warm or cold.Serve Turkish Baklava Recipe From Scratch as a dessert after a scrumptious sandwich like Chicken Sandwich With Sweet Corn and Tandoori Potato Wedges Recipe with friends and family on a weekend.