Turkish Sweets the New Flavour of the Season! Experience the Delicious Taste of Baklava & Kunafa

Turkish Sweets are the New Flavour of the Season! Experience the Delicious Taste of Baklava & Kunafa and Mangaloreans are now discovering and Craving for them

Mangaluru: Indians are known for their love of sweets. It is said that social relationships in India are sweetened with pedals, rasgullas, burfis, jalebis, and a host of other sweetmeats that make the country famous. Now an exotic new confectionery has captured the imagination of Indians – Turkish sweets, chiefly the Baklava and the Kunafa.

Baklava and Kunafa are delicious Turkish and Middle Eastern sweets and pastries enjoyed by people all over the world. These treats were very rare in India due to the lack of authentic manufacturing facilities. However, over the last few years, many outlets have opened up offering these premium delicacies to Indians. The dish is popular in many Middle Eastern countries, but it is most commonly associated with Greece and Turkey. There are numerous flavours and shapes available, and they can contain a variety of nuts and spices. Even though baklava is most commonly associated with Turkey and Greece, it is enjoyed throughout the Middle East and beyond. It is a popular dish among both regular and special occasion diners because of its rich flavour and unique texture. It is a way to commemorate the Ottoman Empire’s traditional baklava, as well as to celebrate the culture of the Middle East in general.

The credit for introducing them in Karnataka and capturing the hearts of food lovers goes to The Baklava Company (TBC & Co.), a Bengaluru -based firm spearheaded by Abdullah A. Rehman, a Mangalorean entrepreneur. “I first got inspired to bring these sweets to India during a trip to Turkey, where they are commonly sold on the streets and are a major tourist attraction,” he says.

As luck would have it, on his return to India, he happened to meet a young Syrian hereditary sweetmaker who ran a small Baklava outlet called Sham Baklava. He had come to India as a refugee from the civil war. “When I met Chef Wajhe House, he was on the verge of winding up his outlet due to a lack of market penetration. I knew that he knew how to make authentic Baklava. So I decided to establish TBC & Co. and take over the business from him,” recalls Rehman. Subsequently, Chef Wajhe groomed the new team to take over from him and returned to Syria as the situation had normalised there.

Baklava is a rich sweet dessert with a culinary history of over a thousand years, and its evolution has benefited from the influence of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the Middle East. Baklava is made with layers of filo. They are filled with chopped nuts like pistachio, cashew, badam, walnut, and hazelnut and sweetened with scented syrup. They are available in appealing shapes like triangles, diamonds, squares, and rectangles.

Kunafa is a traditional string pastry made of noodle-like strings known as kataifi. They are freshly cooked in ghee, soaked in sugar syrup, and layered with cheese, cream cheese, and other ingredients like clotted cream and nuts. Both Baklava and Kunafa are 100% vegetarian delicacies. They are ideal to give as festival gifts and are increasingly popular as premium family gifts and corporate gifts during Diwali and Eid. Nowadays, they are also commonly served at weddings and parties.

With the success of the new firm’s operations in Bengaluru, Rehaman opened the city’s only Baklava outlet in Mangaluru at Sky Court Commercial Complex, Attavar, in 2020. It showcases a variety of freshly made Baklava products procured daily from the firm’s manufacturer in Bengaluru. It also serves steaming hot Kunafa, freshly made on the spot to order and served within 15 minutes. Over ten innovative variants of Kunafa are on offer. The outlet is open all days of the week, including Sundays, from noon. to 11 p.m.

Being loaded with expensive nuts, Baklava is priced at Rs. 2200 a kilo and is also offered in carry-home packs as light as 100 grams. Kunafas range from Rs. 200 to Rs. 500, depending on the premium toppings. Though these are new products, the taste for Turkish delicacies caught on instantly, and the retail outlet has become a popular den for sweets lovers.

“We are excited to offer the most authentic Baklava, Kunafa, and other delicacies with genuine ingredients and a perfect traditional manufacturing process,” says Abdullah A. Rehman. The firm now has exclusive outlets in 14 locations in Garden City-Bengaluru and will soon be opening one in Chennai. Couple more outlets are planned to be opened at Mangalore International Airport and Fiza by Nexus Mall, Pandeshwar shortly.

So if you are looking for a delicious sweet treat to satisfy your cravings in the Coastal City of Mangaluru, BAKLAVA COMPANY in Attavar, Mangaluru is a great place to start!
If you want to get your hands on some Baklava in Mangaluru, you’ve come to the right place. So, get ready to indulge in the sweet, nutty goodness of Baklava at this outlet in Rome of the East- Mangaluru!