almond pudding

Fuqara means “poor” in Arabic, and I don’t know why the word is applied to this pudding. The ingredients aren’t particularly associated with poverty, so perhaps this pudding was distributed to the indigent. Who knows? I like to play with the flavor, sometimes replacing the almond extract with the seeds from one vanilla bean, and sometimes I add ground ginger to the almond extract to give the pudding a subtle spicy flavor. Variations like these can be added at the same point in the recipe as the almond extract. You can also make it with almond milk or, if you can find it, use goat’s milk instead of the more readily available cow’s milk. You can store this pudding, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

SERVES 4 TO 6

4 cups [960 ml] whole milk

³/₄ cup [60 g] almond meal

¹/₄ cup [40 g] rice flour or cornstarch

¹/₃ cup [60 g] organic cane sugar

¹/₂ tsp almond extract

1 to 2 Tbsp slivered or chopped pistachios

Put 3¹/₂ cups [840 ml] of the milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally—watch it toward the end so as not to let it boil over. As it starts to boil, add the almond meal. Turn the heat to medium-low and let simmer, stirring regularly, until the almond meal has softened and expanded, about 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the rice flour with the remaining ¹/₂ cup [120 ml] milk, stirring until completely smooth. Slowly whisk the starch mixture into the simmering milk and cook, whisking all the time, for about 5 minutes until the mixture has thickened.

Add the sugar and continue whisking until completely dissolved. (Taste and adjust the sweetness to your liking, adding a little more sugar if necessary.) Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract.

Pour the pudding into one large serving bowl or four to six individual bowls, depending on their size. Let cool. Serve at room temperature garnished with the pistachio or refrigerate to serve chilled, reserving the garnish until just before serving.