AI-generated image
Anoushabour
Anoushabour: Armenian Christmas wheat pudding with dried fruit and nuts
Anoushabour, 'sweet soup', is cooked by Armenian families for New Year and for Christmas, which the Armenian church keeps on 6 January; in Yerevan and diaspora kitchens a big pot is made and bowls are carried to friends. Whole hulled wheat is simmered until creamy, sweetened and filled with apricots, raisins and prunes, then topped with walnuts, almonds, pomegranate and cinnamon. A common mistake is adding the fruit early, which turns it to pulp. Chef's tip: stir in a spoon of rose water at the end and serve the pudding cool; it sets slightly and the flavours come together.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
For the pudding
- 7 oz hulled whole wheat grainssoaked overnight
- 8 ¼ cups water
- 6 ½ oz sugar
- 4 oz dried apricotschopped
- 2 ⅞ oz golden raisins
- 2 ⅞ oz pruneschopped
- 1 tbsp rose water
To decorate
- 1 ¾ oz walnutschopped
- 1 ⅜ oz blanched almondstoasted
- 4 tbsp pomegranate seeds
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Drain 7 oz hulled whole wheat grains and simmer in 8 ¼ cups water for 1¼ hours, stirring now and then, until the grains are split and creamy.
75 minStep 2: Add 6 ½ oz sugar, 4 oz dried apricots, 2 ⅞ oz golden raisins and 2 ⅞ oz prunes and simmer for 15–20 minutes, until the fruit is plump and the pudding is thick but still spoonable. Common mistake: adding the fruit at the start; it falls apart.
20 minStep 3: Stir in 1 tbsp rose water and pour into a serving bowl or small bowls.
Step 4: Cool, then decorate with 1 ¾ oz walnuts, 1 ⅜ oz blanched almonds, 4 tbsp pomegranate seeds and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 290 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does anoushabour take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 100 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of walnuts?
- Pecans or chocolate chips, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Baklava
The famous layered pastry: crisp sheets of buttered fillo sandwich a filling of almonds, pistachios and cashews spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and saffron. After baking, the hot baklava is soaked in a syrup of sugar, honey, lemon, rose and cardamom and decorated with almond and pistachio flakes. Cut into 40 diamonds; serve with fresh cream or ice cream.
Undu walalu
Walalu means bangles, and these dark, sticky rings of fried urad dal soaked in kithul treacle are a sweet that Sinhala families bring out for Avurudu and for special almsgivings, often made in large batches by an aunt known for her steady hand. A thick, fluffy paste of ground black gram is piped into loops and fried until crisp, then plunged straight into warm treacle, so the rings stay crunchy on the outside while drinking up the syrup. They taste a little like a darker, smokier jalebi, with a toffee finish from the palm treacle. Watery batter is what ruins them; it spreads into flat blobs, so grind the soaked dal with as little water as possible and beat it until light. This recipe uses no asafoetida, so it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: pipe the rings onto small squares of baking paper and lower them into the oil paper and all; the paper peels away in seconds.
Sri Lankan
Marquesitas
Evening in Mérida's Plaza Grande means the smell of marquesitas: thin batter pressed in hot hinged irons until crisp, then rolled like a cigar around grated Edam cheese and a sweet filling such as cajeta, chocolate-hazelnut spread or jam. Edam came to the Yucatán through the port trade with the Netherlands and became part of the local cooking, and the salty-sweet combination is the whole point. At home you can cook them in a thin, wide frying pan. Edam is usually made with animal rennet, so check the label or use a vegetarian Gouda-style cheese. Chef's tip: roll while the crêpe is still in the pan and hot; within seconds it hardens and will crack.
Mexican