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Keskül

This Turkish cream with ground almonds is one of my favorite milk puddings.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves 6

Ingredients

3/4 cup blanched almonds
4 1/2 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons rice flour
3/4 cup sugar
A few drops of almond extract
2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios to garnish

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Grind the almonds in the food processor (the texture is best if you do not use commercially ground ones).

    Step 2

    Bring the milk to the boil and take off the heat.

    Step 3

    In a small bowl, mix the rice flour to a paste with 4–5 tablespoons cold water, making sure there are no lumps. Pour this into the milk, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon, and cook—stirring constantly and always in the same direction, to keep lumps from forming—for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken.

    Step 4

    Add the sugar and 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. Always stir in the same direction, and do not scrape the bottom of the pan, as the bottom tends to stick and burn a little, and you do not want to scrape up any burnt bits. Stir in the almond extract and pour into a serving bowl or individual bowls. Let the cream cool before sprinkling on the pistachios. Serve chilled.

Cover of Claudia Roden's The New Book of Middle Easter Food, featuring a blue filigree bowl filled with Meyer lemons and sprigs of mint.
Reprinted with permission from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, copyright © 2000 by Claudia Roden, published by Knopf. Buy the full book on Amazon or Bookshop.
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