Baklava Recipe – Nutritious Mela Baklava, A Middle-Eastern Dessert

Mela Baklava is of various types or kinds but those served by the Persian restaurants have their own taste and vigor. Mela Baklava is called the queen of sweets, as it is a very rich sweet pastry. The ingredients used in Mela Baklava include chopped nuts like almonds, pistachio, walnuts etc covered with honey.

Course of Making Mela Baklava –

Mela Baklava recipe is quite terrific and it takes time when chopping nuts and almonds. Mela Baklava when prepared well can be served to about two dozen people and it remains fresh even after a week to ten days. The course of cooking Mela Baklava requires the following ingredients.

1. Sugar syrup consisting of 400g sugar in 160g water,
2. 1 lemon halved,
3. 1 orange halved,
4. 6 inch sticks of cinnamon,
5. 225g of honey

For Mela Baklava

1. 500g whole almonds that are finely chopped,
2. 250g walnuts, chopped finely,
3. 250g pistachios that are chopped finely
4. 250g of sugar
5. 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg
6. ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves, salt,
7. 340g unsalted butter, melted and cooled,
8. 400g of phyllo pastry sheets that are thawed if frozen.

Method –

1. Whisk together the dry fruits such as almonds, walnuts cloves, cinnamon, sugar and salt until combined well.
2. Prepare tissue paper like sheets of phyllo.
3. Prepare the filing by preheating the oven at 200°C. Measure out the eight ounces of walnuts and pistachios and place them in a bowl of a food processor. Add sugar and cinnamon. Mix them to break up the nuts and then transfer to a bowl
4. Melt the butter under low heat and turn off the burner when the sticks have melted.
5. Set up the phyllo sheets carefully by unrolling them onto the assembly surface. Then wet the towel and lay it over the phyllo. Trim the phyllo if it is too big for baking pan.
6. Use the pastry brush to brush on a thin layer of butter all over the bottom of the baking pan. Then remove one sheet of phyllo dough to place it on the bottom of the pan. Repeat layering with six sheets by buttering the top of each sheet of phyllo before placing the next.
7. Add the first layer of nuts by sprinkling over the phyllo and then spreading them gently to get an even layer. Repeat layer with four more sheets with butter between each layer.
8. Create another phyllo layer and place a phyllo sheet on top of the nuts and then brushing lightly with butter.
9. Cut the baklava with very sharp knife and then place the pan of baklava in the oven for baking it for 45 minutes. Remove the baklava from the oven to let it cool and after cooling, pour the sugar syrup over the baklava as a coating layer over each piece and then garnish it and serve.

Health Check on Baklava

A slice of baklava has about 230 calories that is 11.5% of the daily food value of 2000 calories.

• The carbohydrates in Mela Baklava provide about 118 calories, fat makes up about 100 calories and proteins accounting for the remaining 12 calories.
• The Mela Baklava also contains lot of minerals and vitamins that are beneficial to human body. For instance, it contains 75 mg of sodium, which is about 3% of the daily value of sodium. The iron content in it is about 6% of the daily use of iron and 2% of calcium.
• With the dry fruits in them such as almonds, walnuts, Baklava is good for the heart as walnuts contains heart healthy omega 3s. Walnuts also help in reducing the harmful cell adhesion molecules that are associated with atherosclerosis.
• This dish also cuts risk factors arising from diabetes and blood pressure as it is a good source of Manganese.

Magic of Mela Baklava

Mela Baklava is indeed a magic that is a rich source of fibers, minerals as well as Vitamin E and folic acid. Mela Baklava is a perfect choice of dish and therefore when a family is planning for a picnic having it in the menu is a right and healthy choice!