baklava- a turkish delight

Baklava,a turkish sweet ,i had first tasted this with one of my best friend over here in melbourne,she introduced me quite a few mths back ,until then i never heard about this sweet dish before in india,and when i came to know through that friend that she had tried making them at home once when she was amsterdam ,that day itself i decided to make too in my kitchen but was really scared as my dear friend kinda made me nervous saying that it was a big disaster when she made as according to her  using filo sheets are not an easy task but still i felt i should try and the more somebody says me its not an easy thing then toh i definately will make sure to try on my own ,i really dont like to give up things so easily ,and i had many different types of nuts lying in my pantry which my husband loves trying and before finishing the first one he ends up opening a new different type of nut and keeps on buying and tasting all sorts,also had bought the filo sheets some 3-4 mths back and till now i never bothered to try anything out of it,though had bookmarked few of related recipes,neways so finally i decided to make this high calorie sweet which definately made me clear my pantry from all small portions of leftover nuts and mainly my long bought filo sheets pkt which had to be used as early as possible,the recipe is adpated and inspired from DK's chefinyou and i have sticked to the recipe as it is,i really didnt wanted to take any chance,i really had fun making baklava just that initially i wasted 2-3 sheets but later on i realised i need to be very careful and patient and followed the perfect steps and need to have plenty of space while making these,sending this to nupur's bb-4 event.Sending this to this month's AWED-TURKEY event hosted by tastespace ,an event started by DK.

ingredients :

1 pkt filo/phyllo sheets ( approx 22-24 sheets,i used store bought 375gms pkt )

1 cup melted butter

for filling :

1 cup walnuts finely chopped / crushed

1 cup almonds finely chopped / crushed

1 cup brazilian nuts finely chopped / crushed ( or can use 1 cup more almonds instead )

1/4th cup caster sugar

2-3 tbsp bread crumbs

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8th tsp cloves pwd

for sugar syrup :

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 stick cinnamon

1 tbsp lemon juice

method :

Mix walnuts,almonds,brazilian nuts,cinnamon pwd,cloves pwd ,bread crumbs and caster sugar all together in a bowl.Keep aside.Grease a 12x 10 baking tray with butter ,brush and place 10-12 filo sheets with butter all over and place overlapped each other on the baking tray,just place them on one top of the other yet covering the whole tray ,spread the filling all over them evenly.Now again brush the rest 10-12 sheets with butter and cover the filling placing the sheets on top of each other .Trim off the extra hanging sheets outside as well as from inside the baking tray .Butter some more on top of the sheets and cut them diagonally or diamond shapes,bake them on a preheated oven at 160 c for an hour or till brown in colour.While the baklava is in for baking prepare the sugar syrup,mix sugar and water,add lemon juice,cinnamon stick and keep on heat ,stir till sugar dissolves completely and simmer for 10-15 mins.Once the baklava is baked ,remove from the oven and pour the sugar syrup slowly all over and let it rest for atleast 6-7 hrs so that the sugar syrup is completely absorbed.Njoy the delicious lipsmacking delight which is quite addictive :)

Sending this to priya for hosting this mths tried and tasted ,an event by lakshmi.