Recipe: Appetizing Aşure, Noah's Pudding (Turkish Cuisine)

Aşure, Noah's Pudding (Turkish Cuisine). You cannot visit Turkey without coming across a very special dessert called Noah's ark pudding, better known as aşure (aah-shoor-EY'). Noah's ark pudding is a cornucopia of healthy ingredients such as dried fruits, legumes, and whole-grain wheat that are sweetened with sugar and fruit juices and cooked all together in one pot. Ashura, which comes from Ottoman cuisine, perhaps from a previous period, is also one of the indispensable parts of Turkish cuisine.

It's not only shared with Muslims but with everyone as way of showing love and friendship in the community. Aşure (aah-shoor-EY') is a very traditional Turkish dessert. Noah's Ark Pudding or "Aşure" is basically a mixture of dried fruits, legumes, fruit juices and sugar. You can cook Aşure, Noah's Pudding (Turkish Cuisine) using 17 ingredients and 8 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of Aşure, Noah's Pudding (Turkish Cuisine)

1. It's 60 grams of Wheat (preferably whole grain, not rolled).
2. You need 20 grams of Chickpeas.
3. It's 20 grams of White kidney beans.
4. It's 5 grams of White rice.
5. It's 100 grams of Sugar.
6. Prepare 4 of Dried apricots.
7. Prepare 4 of Dried figs.
8. It's 15 grams of Raisins.
9. Prepare 15 grams of Walnuts.
10. You need 15 grams of Almonds.
11. It's 10 of Pine nuts (optional).
12. It's 1 liter of Water.
13. It's 30 of Pomegranate (fresh arils).
14. You need 1 dash of Candied orange peel.
15. You need 1 dash of Rose water (optional).
16. You need 1 of Cinnamon powder.
17. It's 1 of as much (to taste) Your choice of nuts and dried fruit, such as hazel nuts, pistachios, black currants, pumpkin seeds, shredded coconut, or whole cardamon pods.

Turkish Aşure recipe contains generally apricots, raisins, walnuts, peas, chickpeas, figs and cloves. A rich, comforting porridge-like dessert full of a variety of beans and pulses with tones of Mahlep, cinnamon and cloves and a zesty kick brought together in (an optional) saffron-infused milk. The traditional dessert does require a little preparation in advance and some tender care during the making but is well worth the effort. First off, aşure is not just a Turkish dish.

Aşure, Noah's Pudding (Turkish Cuisine) step by step

1. If using dried chickpeas and white kidney beans, soak them overnight in water with 1 tablespoon baking soda to rehydrate..
2. Rehydrate the wheat, rice, and nuts 1-2 hours before preparation..
3. Slice the dried fruit and nuts into 1 cm thick slices. Grate the orange peel..
4. Fill a large pot with plenty of water and boil the wheat and rice until soft..
5. Add the ingredients from Step 1 and 3, and the orange peel, starting with those that take longer to cook through. Add the sugar, and slowly simmer until all the ingredients are tender..
6. Turn off the heat, sprinkle in the rose water, and mix well..
7. Transfer the pudding to serving dishes, then sprinkle on cinnamon powder and finely chopped nuts (not listed in the ingredients), and garnish with pomegranate arils..
8. You can serve the pudding warm, or chill it in the refrigerator to meld the flavors and achieve a more soft and chewy texture..

Other cultures throughout central Asia and the middle east share a similar type of dish. This dish is special to Turkey because the actual site of the historical Noah's ark is said to be in eastern Turkey. Hence, aşure is also known as Noah's Ark pudding. Aşure is also called Noah's Pudding or Noah's Dessert. As there wasn't an abundance of food left in the ark's food stores, Noah used the various ingredients that were left over (grains, pulses, dried fruit) and produced this bountiful and very filling concoction.