54 July 2014 www.womanthismonth.com Ramadan Fare RAMADAN | food Traditionally, foods eaten for Iftar are light, sweet and soft. The dishes I offer this month are light and nutritious. They require minimal preparation, so even novice cooks can prepare them. Ramadan Kareem! by JAMES CLAIRE For the syrup: 420g caster sugar 250ml water 1 tbspn lemon juice 1 tbspn blossom water 2 tbspns rose water For the baklava: 15 sheets filo pastry 150g unsalted butter, melted 60g caster sugar 100g almond powder For the filling: 375g pistachio nuts 1 tspn cinnamon 3 tbspns sugar syrup 400g sweetened condensed milk 4 sliced white bread, crusts removed • Preheat the oven to 185 degrees Celsius. • In a small saucepan, dissolve the sugar together with the water and bring to boil. Then simmer for four to five minutes until it becomes syrupy. Stir in the lemon juice, rose water and blossom water and set aside to cool. • For the filling, combine the pistachios, cinnamon, sweet condensed milk and bread in a blender until smooth. Set aside. • To prepare the baklava, firstly mix together the almonds and caster sugar in a bowl and set aside. Grease an oven tray about 6cm deep and 40cm x 30cm wide. Place one sheet of filo pastry, brush with the melted butter and repeat the same with five more sheets. Carefully spoon the filling all over the pastry. Place one sheet of filo pastry to cover the filling, brush with butter and sprinkle with a little of almond mixture. Top with another sheet. Sprinkle with little almond mixture and repeat method with the remaining sheets. • When finished with all sheets and all filing, brush the top surface with melted butter; then cut through the pastry and filling to make diamond shaped pieces. Bake it in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until it becomes golden brown. • Pour the cool syrup over the baklava as soon as it comes out of the oven and allow it to cool before serving the pre-cut slices. Pistachio Baklava
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