Baklava with Samosa Pattis (or Wonton Wrappers)

Samosa patti (also spelled samosa pastry or samosa sheets) is a type of thin, crispy pastry that is used to make samosas, a popular Indian snack. Samosa patti is made from a simple dough of all-purpose flour, water, and oil, which is rolled out thinly and cut into small squares or circles.

In India, you can easily get Switz brand samosa patti in stores or on BigBasket. And it really pays to have them in your freezer! In absence of phyllo pastry sheets, you can use them to make delicious Baklava – one of my favorite sweets!

Baklava is a sweet pastry that is popular in many countries in the Middle East, Mediterranean, and Balkan regions. It is made of layers of phyllo dough, which is a very thin, unleavened dough, and a sweet filling made from chopped nuts, sugar, and spices, such as cinnamon and cardamom. The pastry is typically soaked in a sweet syrup made of honey, sugar, and water, which gives it a sweet, sticky texture.

But we will skip phyllo dough/sheets and use Samosa Pattis to make this delectable treat.

Recipe for Baklava with Samosa Pattis (or Wonton Wrappers)

 Ingredients:

• ¼ cup pistachios, chopped
• ¼ cup walnuts, chopped
• ¼ cup almonds, chopped
• ¼ cup + 1 cup caster sugar
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Shaved rind of ½ an orange
• Shaved rind of ½ a lemon
• Juice of half a lemon
• 2 tbsp. honey (I skipped this because I don’t like honey)
• 1 tsp. rose water (I didn’t have any, so I skipped this)
• 1 cup melted ghee or unsalted butter
• 26 samosa pattis (strips)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade.
2. Grease a square or rectangular ovenproof dish with ghee.
3. Lay down two samosa strips to cover the base of the dish. Brush with ghee.
4. Place another layer of samosa strips and brush with ghee. Build about 8 layers in this fashion.
5. Sprinkle half the chopped nuts and half of the quarter cup of sugar on this layer.
6. Follow up with two layers of samosa strips and another layer of nuts and sugar.
7. Finish with two layers of the samosa strips topped with a generous brushing of ghee.
8. Cut the baklava into squares or diamonds or other shape of choice.
9. Pour any extra ghee you have left over the cut baklava.
10. Bake for about 45 minutes until the top layers are crisp and golden.
11. While the baklava bakes, make the syrup by placing the 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan, covering it with 1 and ½ cups of water, honey (if using), the shaved rinds and lemon juice. If you’re using rose water, add it at the end. When the syrup coats the back of a spoon, turn off the heat.
12. Once the baklava is out of the oven, ladle the syrup onto the hot baklava, and allow to cool.
13. Leave to rest for at least two hours.
14. Re-do your cuts, sprinkle with pistachio dust and  rose petals if feeling fancy, and serve.

Recipe by Saee