I love to learn and share stories about food; Turkish Almond Pudding – Keşkül is one of them. Actually the full name is Fukâra Keşkülü. It is a milk pudding with a considerable amount of calories to keep one full for a long time, perhaps this is the reason why it was chosen to be distributed to needy citizens by the palace during the Ottoman Empire. Actually the word keşkül means a small bowl made of a coconut shell.
The Ottoman governors would go around as beggars in disguise and collect money in keşkül bowls. The amount of money they would collect would be an indication of the status of the public. Then the collected money would be donated back to the needy.
The pudding itself is easy to prepare. Ground almond can be found in markets, if not available then you can peel the almonds and crush it to really small particles and use it for the making of this pudding.
Although I have stated that it has a lot of calories, I have to remind you that in the end it is a milk pudding, so it can never match the calories in a dessert with syrup such as baklava.
Afiyet olsun – enjoy.
Almond Pudding / Keşkül
Ingredients
- 800 mililitres milk
- 60 grams rice flour
- 40 grams ground almond powder
- 60 grams coconut flakes
- 100 grams sugar
Instructions
- Rinse the pot with water, so the milk will not stick in the bottom.
- Pour the milk into a pot.
- Slowly add the rice flour while whisking.
- Add the remaining ingredients and continuously whisk.
- Cook over medium heat until it becomes thick. However do not expect it to be too thick.
- Distribue to little serving bowls and set aside to cool.
- Then keep in the fridge until serving.
- Garnish with ground almonds and/or pistacchio.