Ali Baba's Gluten Free Aşure

Ahh, aşure. It's a widely known Turkish dessert that my grandmother would make from time to time when I was growing up. When I was younger, I never noticed the novelty of a dessert made of generally savory ingredients - I just knew I liked it.

Aşure is also referred to as Noah's Pudding (yes, like the ark). Legend has it that our boy Noah combined all the food left on the ark and came up with this medley of beans, chickpeas, raisins, barley, sugar, and so forth. 

Traditional aşure is not celiac friendly, being that its main ingredient includes whole wheat and barley. Lucky for me (and any other GFers craving this dessert), my dad has perfected his gluten-free aşure and was gracious enough to share it. (Fun fact: my dad's name is Ali and 'baba' means dad/father in Turkish, so the recipe name is as literal as it gets).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry navy beans (soaked, drained)
• 1 cup dry chick peas (soaked, drained)
• 1.5 cups gluten-free steel cut oats (soaked, drained)
• 1.5 cups raisins or craisins
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 tsp cornstarch (melted down in water)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. In three bowls (keeping ingredients separate) pour navy beans, chick peas, and oats. Add water until each ingredient is submerged. Cover and soak overnight.
2. Drain each ingredient the following day, keeping them separate. In one pot, pour in navy beans and fresh water (enough water so beans are well covered). Bring the pot to boil, then simmer until cooked almost through. In a separate pot, follow the same steps for the chick peas. Usually the navy beans take a bit longer to cook than the chick peas (Approximate cook time: 30-45 minutes).
3. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with cold water until it becomes a slurry (semi-liquid mixture). Water to cornstarch ratio should be roughly 2:1, additional water can be added if necessary.
4. In a large pot, combine all ingredients including oats, beans, chick peas, cornstarch slurry, sugar, raisins/craisins, and cinnamon. Fill the pot with water until all ingredients are covered by approximately one inch of liquid.
5. Bring pot to boil, making sure to stir continually until it has reached a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes while occasionally stirring the pot (LOL) so ingredients do not stick to the sides. The mix should thicken thoroughly, though the ingredients should still be distinguishable and pretty easily separated with a spoon.
6. Thickness of the aşure is to preference. If you prefer a thick and pudding-like consistency, leave it as is. If you would prefer a thinner aşure: boil water separately, then stir in water little by little until you reach desired thickness. Note that once refrigerated, aşure will thicken further. 
7. Transfer into bowls or tupperware and place in fridge to cool. 

Typically aşure is served cold, topped with cinnamon and walnuts. The above makes A LOT of aşure, so feel free to half the recipe. I did not write the serving size, because one can easily have a small bowl orrr eat out of a giant Pyrex container until you realize you've just hit the bottom (not sorry about it). Just be mindful that you are, in fact, putting eight cups of ingredients into one recipe.

With love and legumes always,