How to Make Crispy Baklava

Ingredients

• 2 cups white flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Water, as needed for the dough
• Cornstarch
• 1 cup vegetable or animal ghee
• Sugar syrup
• For the filling:
• 2 cups ground raw cashews
• or ground pistachios or ground walnuts
• (The main filling ingredient is chosen according to preference and what we have available.)
• To make kunafa, here is the link: How to Make Cheese Kunafa
• Also from Fatima, here is how to Rub Kunafa

Method

1. Put the flour and vegetable oil in a deep bowl and knead with water until you obtain a cohesive dough.
2. Knead the mixture for at least 10 minutes.
   Timers: 10 min
3. Cut the dough into small circles.
4. Roll each circle to a thickness of 2 cm and place a generous amount of starch between the circles.
5. Then roll every 6 circles on top of each other on a surface dusted with starch, taking care to sprinkle starch from time to time between the layers to prevent the sheets from sticking together.
6. Roll the circles to fit the size of the baking tray you have, aiming for slightly translucent sheets, and continue rolling all the circles until the dough is used up.
7. At first place 8 sheets on top of each other in the tray, then add the filling you chose, such as cashews, walnuts, or pistachios.
8. After adding the filling, place the remaining sheets we rolled earlier over the top.
9. Cut the baklava with a sharp knife into the shapes and portions you want...
10. Pour warm ghee (clarified butter) over the baklava so it covers all the pieces.
11. Place the baklava tray in a hot oven at 180°C, baking from the bottom first, then turn on the grill from the top to brown or caramelize the baklava.
12. Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately pour warm syrup (qat’r or shira) prepared beforehand over it, then leave it to cool at room temperature.
13. To make knafeh, here is the link: How to make cheese knafeh.
14. Also from Fatima, here's how to prepare the knafeh strands.