This year, I wanted to make a special sweet treat for Valentine's day but Kishore is notoriously hard to make desserts for since he's not a fan of overly sweet treats. With that in mind I decided to modify a recipe I tried when my brother was taking his immersive Turkish language class last summer. 

Keşkül is an almond-based milk pudding from Turkish cuisine served in a bowl garnished with coconut shavings, pistachios, or dried rose petals. This deliciously light and refreshing pudding has a nice almond flavor with a hint of sweetness, the perfect way to finish a meal. Here is my recipe:

Almond Pudding - Keşkül

By Emily (Cooking for Kishore)

Ingredients

• 2/3 Cup Blanched Almonds
• 2 Cups Almond Milk (Unsweetened)
• 1.5 Tbsp Rice Flour
• 1 Tbsp Cornstarch
• 2/3 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp Dried Grated Coconut (Unsweetened)
• 1 Tbsp Toasted Pistachios (Optional)
• 1 Tbsp Rose Tea Petals (Optional)

Instructions

1. Grind Almonds into a fine powder. Mix the rice flour and cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water and set aside.
2. Heat the milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring while bringing to a boil. Slowly add the flour-cornstarch slurry, making sure to continue stirring in one direction. 
3. When the pudding begins to thicken add the ground almonds and grated coconut, continue stirring.
4. Cook another 5-10 minutes until pudding has thicken enough to cover the back of a spoon.
5. Pour the pudding into 5- 6 cups and allow to cool in the refrigerator uncovered  for 2-3 hrs. 
6. Before serving garnish with ground toasted pistachios and rose tea petals, Enjoy!

Yield: 4 Servings
Prep Time: 0.5 hrs 

Total time: 3.5 hrs 
Tags: almond milk pudding, Turkish almond pudding, Turkish almond pudding recipe, Turkish dessert pudding, keşkül recipe, valentines' day recipe, vegetarian pudding recipe, vegan pudding recipe

Enjoy!