The vast land area and the differences in climate in the State of Gujarat have contributed to the different variety of food and cuisine. Gujarat is one of the few states in India where many different and flavorful vegetarian dishes can be found. Gujarat cuisine has a number of desserts which are different from the desserts of other states, but since rice is more or less the staple food of India, each state has it’s own method of preparing rice pudding. “Doodh Pak” is rice pudding from Gujarat. I got this recipe in course of my travels to Porbandar and Bhavnagar in Gujarat.

4 Cups Whole Milk

1 Cup Basmati Rice Available at Indian or Thai groceries.

11/2 Cup Sugar

¼ Tsp. Saffron strands soaked in two tablespoons of hot milk

1 Cup Mixed nuts, almonds, cashews and pistachios slivered, soaked in hot water for about half hour and drained.

¼ Tsp. Ground Cardamom

Boil the milk in a pot and add the rice after washing it. The rice should simmer in the milk for about 45 minutes and when it gets soft add the sugar and the nuts. Let the whole dish simmer some more and add the saffron and the cardamom powder. After the liquid gets thicker and has the consistency of tapioca pudding it is done and can be served hot or cold or even at room temperature.

Greek desserts are typically very sweet with a lot of fat content. One of the most popular one is Baklava, a dessert made with phyllo pastry, nuts and sweets. Another variation of the Baklava is Sourota, which is a Baklava Roll. When I was in a Loreto School in Calcutta India, one of my classmates was called Athena and was originally from Greece. Her grandmother used to come from Greece every summer to visit her. I took a few notes while watching her make this dessert and I have worked on refining this recipe ever since. This is the sweet result.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Shelled unsalted Pecans

2 Cups Shelled unsalted Walnuts

2 Cups Shelled unsalted Pistachios

2 Cups Almonds without skin

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Cup Corn Syrup

1 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon

½ Tsp. Ground Cloves

½ Tsp. Ground Nutmeg

1 Tbs. Grated Orange Zest

2 Tbs. Brandy (Optional)

1 Lb. Phyllo pastry

16 oz. Unsalted Butter melted

Pre Heat oven to 325 degrees

In a food processor or grinder, first grind the nuts finely. Take a bowl and mix well the ground nuts, brown sugar, corn syrup, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, about quarter cup of the melted butter, orange zest and the brandy. This is the filling for the phyllo pastry.

Take about 2 Tbs. of the butter and grease the bottom of a 14 by 18 by 2 inches deep pan or casserole. If you have a smaller pan cut the phyllo pastry to fit the pan. Frozen phyllo pastry should be defrosted in the refrigerator and not over the counter because at room temperature the pastry sheets will stick to each other. Work with one sheet at a time and keep the rest covered with a damp cloth or plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out. Try to be fast while working with phyllo sheets and always pre heat your oven before you put your Baklava in.

Take eight sheets of phyllo one by one and brush both sides liberally with butter. Place them one on top of another in the pan. Put one thin layer of the nut mixture evenly on top of the eighth layer and press it down very lightly. Take three more phyllo sheets, butter each one on both sides and layer them on top of the nut mixture. Put another thin layer of nut mixture on the phyllo and continue layering about three sheets between each thin layer of nut mixture until you have used up the nuts. After you layer the last nut mixture put eight phyllo sheets buttered on both sides as a covering for the Baklava.

You may spread out and overlap sheets so that you cover the entire pan. If you have leftover nut mixture you can freeze it for future use. You can freeze unbaked Baklava and then thaw and bake it some other time.

With a very sharp knife score the top of the Baklava diagonally from upper left to lower right and from upper right to lower left to make little diamond shapes. This is the traditional shape for Baklava but any other shape is fine. Do not cut all the way through. Leave the bottom quarter inches of the Baklava uncut. Pour about three tablespoons of butter over the top of your Baklava and bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden but not brown in color.

The Syrup

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Honey

1 Tbs. Grated Lemon Zest

2 Tbs. Lemon Juice

1 Stick Cinnamon

1 Cup Water

Boil the syrup ingredients for about 20 minutes or until it thickens up like syrup.

After you take the Baklava out of the oven, pour the hot syrup carefully over the top and let it sit for at least five hours or overnight. It will be very easy to separate the Baklava into the diamond shapes before you serve. Enjoy!