Turkish Pistachio Baklava

Layers of buttery phyllo sheets, filled with pistachio and sweetened with syrup to make Turkish Pistachio Baklava. Easy recipe to make at home and enjoy with family.

Hello HTS Community

Turkish Baklava is one of the best food items you can make with pistachios. To get the full flavour of pistachio, ghee and phyllo sheets, no spices, honey or flavourings have been used in the recipe. Making baklava sheets at home is a work of art and lots of labour, and because of this I am using readymade phyllo sheets available in grocery stores. You can also substitute pistachios with walnuts, they taste amazing.

My love for Baklava

My trip to Turkey made me realise how good is an authentic Baklava. It is crunchy, syrupy and with small bites of pistachios, it creates a magic in the mouth. Some of the other Turkish food I loved were Mercimek corbasi- lentil soup, Guvec- vegetable casserole and Ravani. There were versions with walnuts, different shapes, such as Havuc Baklava (carrot shaped baklava or also called as Palace Baklava), shell shaped etc. The variety is immense, and each one tasting more delicious than the other.

Other Turkish Desserts

Most of the famous Turkish desserts are syrup based and that’s where they have mastered the art of making syrup based crispy desserts. From knafeh to gul katmeri, each one is a wonder and super delicious. People might also debate about the origin of Baklava being Greece or how the Arabs introduced it, but it is for the historians to decide. I am sharing my experience and what I learnt in Turkey.

Baklava is a very special Turkish dessert, but making it does not require fancy ingredients. Readymade phyllo sheets, sugar, pistachio, clarified butter (ghee) and lemon juice are the only ingredients you need. It takes time and patience to layer those phyllo sheets because they are very delicate and dry up fast. The most difficult part is then cutting the prepared baklava before baking and you need an extremely sharp knife for this purpose. Phyllo sheets I purchased were large in size and so I made two 8*12 inch trays of baklava from it.

Ingredients for Turkish Pistachio Baklava (2 trays)

• Packaged phyllo/fillo sheets- 450g, thawed
• Sugar- 350g
• Water- 260 ml
• Lemon juice- 1 teaspoon
• Pistachio- 200g (plain, unsalted)
• Ghee- 70g, melted (clarified butter)

Steps:

• Start with coarsely grinding the pistachios in a mixer jar and keep them aside.

• To make the syrup, in a pan add sugar and water on low heat and start mixing the sugar with a whisk. Sugar to water ratio should be 4:3. Make sure to dissolve the sugar completely before the water starts to boil, otherwise it will crystallise when poured over the baklava.

• Once the sugar dissolves completely and the syrup becomes clear, switch off the heat and keep aside.

• Open phyllo/fillo sheets and cut in the size that fits your tray. It is important to keep the sheets wrapped in a damp kitchen towel to avoid drying up.

• Do not throw away the remaining parts, we will use those scraps as well, and save the best sheets for the top.

• Grease the bottom of the baking tray with ghee or clarified butter, and place a phyllo sheet. Continue with two more sheets of phyllo on it and then butter again.

• Using the scraps form an even layer and repeat to make 3 layers on top of each other. Butter up the scrap layers and repeat the process with 3 sheets of phyllo, then butter, and 3 sheets of scraps. In total we should have 12 layers now. Layering guide mentioned below.

• Spread the pistachios evenly and cover with a sheet. Continue with 3 layers of phyllo sheet, butter, 3 layers of scrap sheets, butter, 3 phyllo sheets, butter and 3 scrap sheets followed by 1 phyllo sheet to cover it all. You have a total of 25 layers with pistachio in between.

• Using a spatula, seal the sides by tucking the layers. Take a sharp knife and cut layers in squares or diamonds. Butter up again, making sure each piece is nicely covered.

• Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree celsius for 25-30 minutes, or until beautifully golden.

• 5 minutes before you are about to take the baklava out, lightly warm the sugar syrup and add lemon juice. It should be warm when we pour it on the baklava.

• Take the baklava out and evenly pour the sugar syrup while the baklava is still hot. Garnish with powdered pistachio and let it sit for at least 1-2 hours to soak the syrup. Enjoy with your family.

Layering guide (starting from the bottom)

• 3 sheets of phyllo
• Ghee
• 3 layers of scrap phyllo
• Ghee
• 3 sheets of phyllo
• Ghee
• 3 layers of scraps
• Pistachios
• 3 sheets of phyllo
• Ghee
• 3 layers of scrap phyllo
• Ghee
• 3 sheets of phyllo
• Ghee
• 3 layers of scraps
• 1 sheet of phyllo