Tatlisi means dessert in Turkish. This cream is made of sprouted wheat. It takes some planning to prepare it - the time for the grains to germinate - but it is really good and definitely an elixir for your stomach. In Istanbul they serve it topped with crunchy roasted chickpeas.
We made it with Nar, during a day off from farm work. Nar likes a lot to experiment around the kitchen. She made us try many different flavored vinegars, the Kurdish coffee (a brew tasting like coffee made with the roasted berry of the turpentine tree) and home-made bread, prepared with the left over of the process that follows.
INGREDIENTS
1.5 kg of wheat
c.a. 350 g of flour
4 L of water
400g flour
DIRECTIONS
The wheat needs to be kept in a dark holey container to germinate. The holes allow excess of water to flow out. The germination process lasts 15 days and requires a quick shaking and a small addition of water every day to keep the wheat homogeneously moist.
At the end of the 15 days, add 500 mL of water and pass it on a blender. Now add 3.5 L of water, mix and sift out the solid part. To the liquid part, add flour (100g/kg of solution, tune the quantity to taste, slightly more flour will result in a slightly sweeter cream). Pour the batter into a pot and heat up on strong fire, stirring frequently till boiling. Decrease the heating and let it cook till it gets the consistence of a cream (it may take about 1h), applying frequent and vigorous stirring.
You can serve the cream warm in a dessert glass or store it in jars still hot so to preserve it longer.
TIPS TO OTHER LONGITUDES
As grain we used common wheat, but it works with durum and a variety of other grains. The solid part of the wheat can be still used. As mentioned before, we made a nice bread loaf, but cookies and muffins are more than valid alternatives. For the bread, to 1kg of the solid mix we add a big spoon of sour dough, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 glass of lukewarm water and 600 g of flour. Let it grow for at least 8h. Place it in the tray and let it rest for 1h more. Cook at 180°C for about 1h.
