NOAH’S PUDDING

• 2 cups wheat kernels

• 1/2 cup great northern beans

• 1/2 cup chick peas

• 1/2 cup rice (short grain)

• 3 cups sugar

• 9 pints (18 cups) water

• cinnamon

• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

• 1 cup raisins

• 1/4 cup currants

• 1/2 cup pine nuts

• 1.5 cup dried apricots

• 1.5 cup dried figs

• 1 tablespoon orange rind

• 1 pomegranate

• The legend is that when Noah and his animals were about to run out of food

on the arc, he mixed whatever ingredients were left and cooked them all

together to feed his voyagers and the resulting dish was the pudding

described in this recipe.

• Asure is a classical, most cherished Turkish dessert, which is a staple item of

every "muhallebi" shop in Istanbul. It is a "must" if you need to brag about

your knowledge of the Turkish cuisine.

• This recipe yields twenty four 6 oz servings of asure.

• Choose a pot large enough to take all the dry ingredients and 8 pintsof

water.

• Measure 5 pints of water into the pot. Bring the water to a boil.

• Wash the wheat grains thouroughly in a wire mesh strainer under

running water until the water runs clear. Add the grains to the boiling water,

cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and leave the

grains in this water overnight.

• Wash the rice thouroughly in a wire mesh strainer under running water

until the water runs clear. In a seperate pot, boil 2 pints (4 cups) of water.

Add the rice to the boiling water, cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Turn off the heat and leave the grains in this water overnight.

• Wash the great northern beans and soak them in water overnight.

• Wash the chick peas and soak them in water overnight.

• Begin the next day by cooking the chick peas and the great northern

beans in plain water. We recommend using a pressure cooker. The beans

and the chickpeas need to be cooked separately because it takes less time to

cook the beans. In our pressure cooker, we use 15 minutes for the beans and

30 minutes for the chick peas. It is important to note however that the

cooking time may slightly change between different pressure cookers. If you

do not have a pressure cooker, you can boil the beans and the chick peas in

separate pots until they are fully cooked. When they are cooked, leave the

beans and the peas in cold water until they are cool to hand. Discard the

water chickpeas and beans were cooked in.

• While the beans and chickpeas are cooking, dice the dried apricots and

the figs into small pieces - see the picture below for reference.

• Remove the skins of the chick peas. If they are properly cooked, a gentle

squeeze is sufficient to remove their skins.

• Add 2 more pints of water into the main pot with the wheat grains, add

the chick peas, the great northern beans, the rice and the orange rind. Bring

the pot to a boil, reduce the temperature and continue boiling for 15

minutes.

• Add the sugar, continue boiling for another 15 minutes.

• Add the raisins and half of the the dried apricots, continue boiling for 5

minutes.

• Add half of the dried figs, turn off the heat.

• Let the asure rest for about an hour, then pour it into small, 8 oz bowls.

• Garnish with cinnamon, chopped walnuts, currants, pine nuts, remaining

half of the dried apricots, remaining half of the dried figs and fresh

pomegranate seeds.

• Serve at room temperature.