Turkey has a very wide range of milk puddings. I once spent much of one night watching specialist milk pudding–makers at work, endlessly stirring creams in giant copper cauldrons. They said they had to work at night because that was when the milk arrived, which was why, they complained, they could not recruit young people to do the job. I don’t blame them. This pudding, made with ground almonds, is my favorite.
In Turkey, it is a traditional option to serve this with a heaped teaspoonful of kaymak (see page 218) but here you can use clotted cream. Make a little slit in the skin of each portion, and slip through it a heaped teaspoon of clotted cream.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Grind the almonds finely in the food processor. Bring the milk to the boil, preferably in a nonstick pan, which prevents the cream sticking and burning at the bottom, then take it off the heat.
Step 2
In a small bowl, mix the rice flour to a paste with 4 to 5 tablespoons of water, making sure there are no lumps. Add this to the milk, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, and always in the same direction, to avoid lumps forming, for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken. (If lumps form, you can save the cream by beating it with an electric beater.)
Step 3
Add the ground almonds and continue to cook on the lowest possible heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until the consistency is that of a thin porridge. Then add the sugar and continue to cook, stirring, until it has dissolved. Always stir in the same direction. Do not scrape the bottom of the pan (in case it sticks and burns a little, you don’t want to scrape up any burnt bits).
Step 4
Stir in the almond essence, let the pudding cool, then pour it into a glass serving bowl or individual bowls. Serve chilled, sprinkled with the chopped pistachios.
