There is a big big world beyond baklava. That of kadaif, wire-looking dough swirled into nests, cocoons or spread up and lavishly soaked in sugar syrup. That of Turkish delight, soft and tender and wonderful transformation of a fruit syrup. That of candied fruits, nuts and even vegetables with orange skin slices, whole walnuts or pumpkin wedges basking in sugar syrup. Treating pretty much anything to a good dose of the sugar syrup is a good rule of thumb in creating a decent Turkish dessert. But there is a big big world beyond sugar syrup too. Enter the Turkish puddings.
The history of puddings (muhallebi) in Turkey goes back to the Ottoman times when they started to become were popular desserts on the royal tables. Some were very important part of the festivities: such aşure, a thick rich pudding with beans, grains, dry fruits and nuts that can amount to 40 varieties. Not so untypical for Turkish puddings that tend to be rather filling as they are often times made of thickened milk, rice, nuts and even chicken breast (!). No wonder that during the Ottoman rule puddings started being served as a mid-day snack and pudding specialty shops (muhallebici) turning a dozen of most popular puddings got the status of institutions.
Traditionally Istanbul pudding makers used to thicken milk by adding sübye, or rice milk if you wish. Rice is soaked in lukewarm water overnight and in the morning it is pulsed with the water it was soaked in into a cloudy liquid which is then added to the milk to thicken it. Convenience wins nowadays and so does the preference for rice flour or corn starch used instead of sübye.
Possibly the most popular Turkish pudding is rice pudding called sütlaç, an uber-simple creation favored by Turkish moms and their children (even when the latter grow up). Very much of a comfort food that, on occasion, can be turned into a rather wonderful dessert. If you compare it with the Western version (I first got to know rice pudding when living in Denmark and then got snacking on it all the time in Norway) Turkish rice pudding is thicker, has less rice and often time flavored - with rose water or mastic.
At the restaurant of Zeliş Çifliği we make sütlaç more often than I care to remember or write down the recipe. And (just like with anything we do here) in such huge quantities that I had to take time to test the recipe for “home” use at my Istanbul kitchen. What eventually prompted me was watching Jamie Oliver serving rice pudding with stewed fruit and caramelized almonds. Such a delight seasoned by Jamie’s enthusiasm! My mind got rumbling: what about dressing up traditional Turkish rice pudding with some seasonal fruit and nuts? With that long-standing ambition to test rice pudding recipe for smaller quantities the plan came together and resulted in the recipe of this Turkish rice pudding with fig syrup. Yes, I am that short and sweet today. Busy working through my portion.
Sütlaç: Turkish Rice Pudding with Fig Sauce
Traditional Turkish rice pudding dressed up in thick stewed fig sauce: quick to make, guaranteed to please
Cook Time: 45 Min
Total Time: 45 Min
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup short grain rice washed and drained
- 1 cup water
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp honey chose fragrant type such as chestnut
- 2 tbsp corn starch melted in 4 tbsp milk use from 3 cups milk above
- 3 large fresh figs very coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 lemon, juice of
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp roasted pinenuts (can replace with slivered almonds)
- cinnamon optional
Directions
- Prepare the pudding: In a small pot boil the rice in 1 cup water until soft (about 20 minutes). In a separate pot bring whole milk, sugar and honey to boil again. Once boil transfer the rice into the pot with sweetened milk. Then ladle a few spoons of the sweetened milk into a small mixing bowl and whisk it together with corn starch until the starch is completely dissolved. After that gently pour the corn start mixture into the cooking pot working it in with a whisk. Now you need to give some attention to your pudding for the next 20 minutes or so: you need to continue stirring it now and then for two reasons. One, you want the starch to evenly expand. Two, you don’t want your pudding to burn on the bottom which is likely to happen as the mixture cooks and thickens. Once done immediately pour the pudding into small serving cups, let cook and then cover with stretch film and send to the fridge. If in absolute rush you can eat your pudding in 1 hour but I find it best to give it a night to nicely chill and thicken.
- Prepare the sauce: In a small cooking pot combine water and figs and bring to boil, let them simmer for 10 minutes or so. Then add sugar and lemon juice and let the sugar dissolve and syrup to thicken slightly; that will take another 10-15 minutes. Cool down the sauce completely before using.
- Assemble the pudding: Ladle a few spoons of fig sauce onto the pudding. Sprinkle with pinenuts (and cinnamon if you wish) right before serving.
Even though I made homemade baklava this was a favorite at our Turkish Dinner Party (for 25)! I cooked it (triple batch) in a large cast iron skillet and put it under the broiler to get that caramelized top I remembered and then chilled it. No one could believe it was simple rice pudding! Thanks!