Not all Santas come during the Winter. No, I am not talking about the Easter Bunny or Great Pumpkin. For today’s version of Santa Claus, we head to Iran during the verge of the first day of Spring.
Our main character is called Amu Nowruz. He appears on the day of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year. Thus Amu Nowruz’s name literally translates as ‘Uncle New Year.’
Amu Nowruz appears with a controversial black-face character known as Haji Furuz. Haji Furuz is a sort of Iranian minstrel, who parades the streets begging for money while banging his tambourine.
The spring equinox marks a special time of romantic tragedy, The Iranian New Year is the only time that Amu Nowruz and his wife Nane Samra are able to be reunited. That’s because Samra is the daughter of a frost deity and Nowruz is a descendant of fair weather beings. Imagine their love story as if Romeo & Juliet was penned by Mother Nature.
Amu Nowruz is depicted as elderly silver haired gentleman who wears a beat-up Astrakhan hat and carries a long staff and cloak. Excited to be reunited with his bride, Amu Nowruz brings presents for the kiddies he meets on his way to his annual day-long rendezvous. The pair regale the children with the story of Nowruz before the ill-fated lovers must part once again for another 364 days.
I have a heart for Iran and it’s people. Several of my cousins are from Iran. They were smuggled out of that country by the great-uncle after which I am named, on the cusp of the Ayatollah overthrowing the American backed country. And that’s where I am sharing a holiday tradition from my family.
Every year, the mother of my cousins would make her family’s traditional baklava. More of a pastry that cookie, it’s still really delicious. It’s traditionally made with rosewater. But if you can’t find it, vanilla extract will work just as well.
Temp: Preheated 350 F center rack
Bake time: 35 minutes
Yield: 24 Baklavas
9x13x2 oven proof glass baking pan
Author: Homa
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Persian
INGREDIENTS
20 Phyllo pastry sheets (defrost in the refrigerator for one day, then leave out at room temperature for 30 minutes.
¾ pound sweet butter, melted
FOR FILLING
12 ounces blanched almonds (no brown skin), ground in a food processor (3 cups ground almonds).
6 ounces walnuts, ground in a food processor (1 ½ cups ground walnuts)
3 TBSP granulated sugar
5 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground cinnamon
FOR SYRUP
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup water
¾ cup honey
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP plus ¼ tsp rose water
¼ cup pistachio nuts finely chopped, to sprinkle on top of the pastry
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 F, center rack.
To blanch the almonds at home: Place 12 ounces of almonds in a medium bowl. Add enough boiling hot water over them to cover the almonds. Put a plate over the bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes, or until the skins slide off easily. When just cool enough to handle, press the almond between two fingers and the skin will slide right off. Process in the food processor just until fine,
Set the almonds aside and process the walnuts in the food processor, same size as the almonds.
In a small bowl mix sugar, cardamom and cinnamon. Set aside.
Trim the phyllo sheets a bit so they fit the baking dish and you don't have to double fold it on the sides.
Cover the sheets with a large damp pastry cloth to prevent drying.
Brush the bottom and sides of the 9 x 13 x 2 Pyrex pan with the melted butter.
Layer the pan with one phyllo sheet. Brush the entire surface with melted butter. Repeat this with 5 more sheets and brush each with melted butter.
Add half of the ground almonds (1 ½ cups) to the stacked phyllo sheets and use a fork to spread it evenly. Reserve the other half of the ground almonds. Set aside.
Sprinkle 5 teaspoons of the sugar/spice mix evenly over the ground almonds.
Top the ground almonds with one sheet of phyllo pastry and brush it with melted butter. Top with 3 more phyllo sheets, brushing each with melted butter.
Next add the ground walnuts evenly on the phyllo sheet.
If the butter starts to solidify, microwave for 20 seconds.
Sprinkle 5 teaspoons of the sugar/spice mix evenly over the ground walnuts.
Top the ground walnuts with 4 sheets of phyllo, brushing each with melted butter.
Add the reserved ground almonds evenly on the top phyllo sheet.
Sprinkle the remaining sugar/spice mix evenly on top of the ground almonds.
Top the almond layer with the remaining 6 sheets of phyllo pastry, brushing each sheet with the melted butter as above.
Brush the top sheet with butter. Use a sharp knife to score the top sheet into 24 squares, about 2 x 2 inch each. gently cut the pastry into 24 pieces. Make sure to cut through all the layers.
Bake the pastry in preheated 350 F oven for 35-40 min or until golden brown. Remove the baking dish from the oven.
Let the Baklava cool on a wire rack for about 1 hour until lukewarm. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and between the squares before pouring the syrup over the cooled pastry.
MAKE THE SYRUP
Add all the syrup ingredients, except the rose water, to a 1-Qt saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 5 min, until the mixtures thickens slightly. Watch the syrup closely, it tends to boil over. Remove from heat and stir in the rose water.
Pour the hot syrup over the lukewarm Baklava.
Sprinkle the top with finely chopped pistachio nuts and wait 2-3 hours to allow the syrup soak through the pastry before serving. Cover and store the extra pastry in the original baking dish for up to 2 days at room temperature.
Baklava freezes well. Once completely cooled, cover the top, without touching the pastries, with parchment paper and heavy duty aluminum foil before storing it in the freezer. To serve, bring to room temperature for about an hour.
NOTES
Rose water and cardamom may be purchased from Middle Eastern or Mediterranean markets.
** You may substitute 10 cardamom pods, or 1 cinnamon stick for the rose water. In this case you will need to add them to the syrup at the same time that you add the rest of the syrup ingredients. Then once the syrup is ready use a slotted spoon to take the cardamom pods, or cinnamon stick, out before pouring the syrup over the baked Baklava.
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