Asure (Noah's Pudding)
The oldest dessert in the Turkish kitchen: a gently spiced pudding of wheat, chickpeas, beans and dried fruit, crowned with walnuts, hazelnuts and pomegranate.
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Ingredients
250g (1 1/2 cups) peeled asure wheat (dovme), soaked overnight
100g cooked chickpeas, drained
100g cooked white beans, drained
2 tbsp baldo rice, rinsed
200g granulated sugar (about 1 cup, adjust to taste)
8 dried apricots, diced
6 dried figs, diced
75g black raisins
Zest of 1 orange
50g walnut kernels, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve
50g hazelnuts, chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon, for dusting
Pomegranate seeds, to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Drain the soaked wheat, put it in a large pot with the rice and 2.5 litres of fresh water, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 60-75 minutes, stirring now and then, until the grains are completely soft and the liquid is creamy.
- 2
Stir in the drained chickpeas and white beans and simmer for another 10 minutes so the flavours mingle.
- 3
Add the diced apricots, figs and raisins and cook for 5 minutes until the fruit plumps up.
- 4
Add the sugar and orange zest, stir well, and simmer for a final 15 minutes; the pudding should coat the back of a spoon, so loosen with a little hot water if it gets too thick.
- 5
Turn off the heat, stir in half of the chopped walnuts and hazelnuts, and taste for sweetness.
- 6
Ladle the asure into individual bowls or glass cups and leave to cool to room temperature; it will set to a soft pudding.
- 7
Decorate each bowl with the remaining walnuts and hazelnuts, pomegranate seeds and a light dusting of cinnamon before serving cold or at room temperature.
Asure, or Noah's pudding, is said to be the dish Noah's family cooked from the last stores on the Ark, which is why every household version is a little different. What never changes is the base: plump asure wheat simmered until creamy, joined by chickpeas, white beans and a rainbow of dried fruit. It is traditionally made in a huge pot during the month of Muharrem and shared with neighbours, so this recipe makes a generous twelve bowls.
The key to silky asure is the wheat. Use peeled asure wheat (dovme) and soak it overnight; it will collapse into a naturally thick, almost milky porridge without any cream. Canned or pre-cooked pulses are completely acceptable and save an hour, so keep a jar of boiled chickpeas and beans in the cupboard for this.
Asure keeps in the fridge for four to five days and actually tastes better on day two, once the orange zest and dried fruit have perfumed the whole pot. Everything you need, from the dovme wheat to Turkish dried apricots and figs, is available at Turkish Online Market with UK-wide delivery.
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