'Baklava' is a Turkish delicacy, which was introduced to me few months back. I had heard of this sweet dish before, but never got a chance to taste it. One of my friends had brought Baklava while visiting us sometime back. We liked its unique taste and crispy texture.
After tasting this heavenly sweet, I just googled for Baklava recipe. The recipe called for walnut as one of the main ingredient. I didn't had walnuts in my pantry and hence, I have replaced it with almonds. Baklava tasted perfect just the same as the store bought ones.
I have adopted this recipe from allrecipes.com with slight modifications. Try this recipe and let me know your feedback..

Preparation time: 35 minutes
Baking time: 50 - 55 minutes
Yield: 40 pieces (depending on the size)
Difficulty level: Difficult

Ingredients:

• Filo pastry sheets - 375 gm
• Butter - 250 gm
• Sugar - 1 cup (1 cup = 200 gm)
• Almonds - 2 cups (see tips)
• Sugar powder - 4 tbsp
• Water - 1 cup
• Peel of half lime
• Cloves - 2
• Honey - 6 tbsp
• Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp

Method:

• Thaw the filo pastry sheets according to the instructions on the pack.
• Chop the almonds finely and toast them on low flame till aromatic or till it turns golden brown. Add sugar powder, cinnamon powder once its cool and keep aside.
• Grease the baking tray with butter. I have used a 33*23 cm baking pan here.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
• Take out two sheets of filo pastry carefully from the pack and arrange them on the greased tray. Brush the top with melted butter and place two more sheets upon it and brush it with butter. Continue this process till half of the sheets are done.
• Once you finished arranging half of the sheets, fold in the almond mixture and spread it evenly. 
• Start placing filo pastry sheets 2 at a time, brush with butter and continue this process till you are done with all the sheets. 
• Brush the top layer with butter and cut the sheets into diamond or any desired shapes of equal size.
• Place the baking tray inside the pre-heated oven and bake them for 50 - 55 minutes or till they turn golden brown.
• Prepare sugar syrup while Baklava is baking. Combine sugar and water in a vessel and bring to boil. Once the sugar has diluted, add cloves, honey and lemon peel. Allow it to boil on low flame for 15 - 20 minutes and turn off the flame. Take out the cloves and lemon peel and discard it. 
• Once the Baklava is cooked, take it out of oven and pour the sugar syrup evenly. Allow it to set for atleast two hours before serving.

Tips:

• The original recipe calls for walnuts. I have used almonds here since i didn't had walnuts. 

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