Very popular in the culinary traditions of many people, pastry - baklava (or baklava) - is a confectionery product made of thin sheets of puff pastry with a filling of thick fruit syrup and ground nuts. Baklava with nuts are cooked in the Arab countries, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. Home baklava is an indispensable item in the menu of the spring holiday Novruz.
From the history of the dish
According to some historical evidence, the first mention of baklava dates from the 15th century. It is claimed that the custom to roll out a thin dough for baklava came from Assyrian culinary traditions. In one of the Ottoman Sultans' cookbooks there is a record of the times of Sultan Fatih, mentioning the first case of preparing a "paklava" in August 1453 in the palace kitchen. Sultana ostensibly liked the baklava and he ordered to cook this wonderful pastry for the holidays. There is another version, according to which the traditions of cooking baklava formed in the territory of modern Turkey in ancient times - already in the VIII century BC. e. And only then the Greek sailors and merchants, having tasted the delicious flavor of the baklava, brought the recipe for this sweetness to Greece. The Greeks in their own way improved the recipe for baklava so that it was possible to roll it into very thin sheets (in Turkey, a coarser dough was used).
How to make baklava?
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of wheat flour high-grade;
- 1/2 cup whole milk;
- 200 grams of natural melted butter;
- 1 chicken egg;
- 1 more yolk;
- 20 grams of pressed yeast;
- 200 grams of walnut kernels;
- 1 glass of powdered sugar;
- 1 tablespoon of sugar;
- 80 grams of honey;
- saffron, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon - a little bit of everything;
- half a lemon;
- a pinch of salt.
Preparation:
So, here is one of the possible recipes of the Turkish baklava.
- We divorce yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar, as much flour and a pinch of salt in slightly warmed milk.
- Let's leave the incense in a warm place for 20 minutes.
- We will pour the spoon into a bowl, add the egg, a little oil and a little - the remaining (necessarily sifted) flour.
- We knead the dough, cover it with a clean linen napkin and put it in a warm place for 40 minutes.
- Prepare the filling: the kernels of the walnut must be crushed - let's go through the meat grinder (or walnut), you can, of course, chop the knife by hand or grind, using the combine, but not too finely.
- We will combine ground nuts with sugar powder, honey, lemon juice and spices.
- We roll 14-16 thin cakes out of dough.
- Oiled with oil (it is necessary to lubricate the dough with oil very much), large sheets of dough thick with paper are laid out in layers in a rectangular relatively deep baking tray.
- The first 3 cakes are laid out without the filling, as well as the last 3.
- The rest of the cakes are sandwiched every 2, well, or in a similar order.
- Let's smear the baklava with egg yolk, cut into diamonds and bake for 30-40 minutes in the oven at 180 ° C.
- Readiness is determined by a ruddy shade and a characteristic appetizing smell.
- Ready hot baklava abundantly pour (or miss with a brush) the remaining melted butter.
- To get a particularly delicious, leave the baklava in the fridge for a night soaked in "cream".
Serve this eastern delicacy can be with tea or coffee, eat it directly with your hands (so it's good to pre-cut the baklava into small portions of it).