28 May 2011

Mamajan's Anoushabour Recipe

My dear friend Sylvia put out a request on Facebook this evening for an Anoushabour recipe.  I shared my mom's recipe with her...and thought I'd share it with all of you.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Anoushabour, it's an Armenian fruit dessert that's made with skinless whole wheat berries, dried apricots and raisins and decorated with almonds.  Traditionally, it's a holiday dessert, but anytime is a good time for it.

Okay, my mom's anoushabour is more like a thick apricot pudding, so i'm going to give you her recipe, and another that I found in one of my cookbooks.

Mamajan's Anoushabour:
1 1/2 c. cup skinless whole wheat (you can buy this at middle eastern markets)
1 1/2 cup yellow raisins
2 cups dried apricots
3 qts. water
1 cup sugar (or less, to taste)
Blanched almonds, walnuts, raisins, pomegranate arils to garnish
Optional: Cinnamon or cinnamon oil

Wash and drain wheat. Add water to wheat and bring to a boil about 15 minutes. Then turn off heat and set aside 2-3 hours until it swells/softens. Chop the raisins and apricots (food processor is best for this). Add fruit to the wheat along with the sugar. Cook on low heat until thickened (about an hour) stirring frequently.  It will thicken further as it cools.   Pour into a large serving dish (like a casserole dish)  and decorate with blanched almonds, walnuts, raisins, pomegranate arils, etc.  (My mom doesn't add cinnamon, but I do.  If you want to keep the color light, you can use cinnamon oil...otherwise,  add cinnamon after cooked to taste).   Serve warm, cool or room temperature. 

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