Zerde is a Turkish sweet pudding made with rice, saffron, and rose water, often served during holidays and celebrations. It has a distinctive floral taste and smell and is traditionally eaten during the first 10 days of Muharram. It is made by cooking rice in water, adding sugar and reducing the liquid, adding arrowroot, saffron, and rose water, and chilling the mixture. It is served with raisins, pomegranate seeds, and nuts sprinkled on top. A variant of zerde is zerdeli sutlac, which uses almost the same ingredients but is prepared differently.
Zerde is a Turkish sweet pudding made from rice, saffron and rose water. It is a popular dish that is often served during holidays. The name itself is Persian for “yellow,” because the dish gets its color from saffron. Also known as wedding pudding, it is served as a dessert which has the distinctive floral taste and smell of roses. This pudding is known to have existed in and around Turkey for at least 600 years.
Known as a dish that is often prepared for celebrations, zerde is also served at weddings and parties celebrating births. It is traditionally eaten during the first 10 days of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar year. Kheer is a very similar sweet rice dish which is also served at weddings.
One of the more unique ingredients of zerde is rose water. Rose water is a liquid that is left over after the oils have been extracted from the rose petals. It has a very strong, perfume-like smell and a strong, decidedly floral taste.
Saffron is another important ingredient in the dish. It is an expensive spice obtained from the stamens of crocus flowers. The addition of saffron to foods imparts a distinctive color and flavor and is responsible for the dish’s name, which refers to the color of the pudding when completed.
Making zerde begins by cooking the rice in water and then adding sugar and reducing the liquid to make light syrup. Arrowroot, which is a thickening powder made from the roots of a plant of the same name, is then added to the rice. Saffron and rose water are incorporated. Finally, spices such as cinnamon are added and the whole mixture is chilled to allow it to set completely.
The completed pudding is served with raisins, pomegranate seeds and nuts sprinkled on top. The zerde will smell like roses and will have the very deep yellow color of saffron. A bowl of honey can be served on the side.
A variant of zerde is another type of pudding called zerdeli sutlac. This dish all uses almost the same ingredients but is prepared differently. Instead of cooking everything in one pot, two separate puddings are made. One is saffron pudding and the other is rice pudding. They are poured together into one bowl when completed and served.
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