During the Ottoman Empire water had not found its place on the tables yet. Instead various fruit compotes from either dry or fresh fruits were prepared and served cold. Actually these were similar to fruit juices we have today.
Nowadays, hoşaf-from dry fruits and komposto-from fresh fruits is still prepared in Turkish kitchens. Especially during the fasting month of Ramadan these always made ready, served next to dishes such as borek, pilaf, potato and especially next to pulse dishes to help swallowing and chewing easier. For this reason younger kids enjoy it too.
Dry fruits that are used are generally apricots, prunes, raisins, and figs. For the preparation of dry fruits just rinse, cut off stems if any and chop to small pieces.
Fresh fruits that are often used in compotes are apple, apricots, quince, peach, various cherries like cornelian and sour cherry. Fruits should be rinsed, then peeled for bigger fruits such as apple, quince, peach, and pear. The seeds should be taken out from all kinds of fruits.
Now all you will need to do is boil with sugar and water. Most fruits are already sweet, so adjust the sugar according to your taste, less is better.
In this recipe I chose to use dry and fresh fruits combined. When boiling the fruits take into consideration their probable cooking time. For instance apples cook quicker so add them a few minutes after you have add the pears. There are no artificial additives included in the compotes so they are a good alternative to ready bought fruit juices.
Compote of Fresh and Dry Fruits / Hoşaf
Ingredients
- 100 grams dry apricots
- 50 grams sultana raisins
- 3 cloves
- 750 millilitres water
- 1 tablespoons sugar
- 1 apple chopped to cubes
- 1 pear chopped to cubes
Instructions
- Wash the raisins and the dry apricot. Cut the dry apricot to halves or quarters.
- Add water and the dry fruits to a pot and bring to boil. Add the cloves.
- Mean while peel and discard the seeds of the apple and the pear. Cut to similar size cubes. Add to the boiling water, when the apricots are half cooked.
- Cook until the apricots are done.
- Add the sugar. You may want to increase or decrease the sugar amount, according to your taste. Mix and remove from heat.
- Take out and discard the cloves without harming the fruits.
- Wait until cooled, then move into the refrigerator. Serve in small bowls and a spoon – one for each person.
- Serve chilled. Goes well with dishes that are dry, like a pilaf, borek, potato or pulse dishes.