Cardamom Harees Pudding Cups with Date Caramel

Method

1. Rinse the wheat until the water runs clear, soak it in cold water for 8 h (overnight) and drain.

   Add in this stepHarees wheat (hulled whole wheat berries) 80 g

2. Put the wheat and water in a 18 cm pot and bring to the boil over high heat, then turn down to low heat, set the lid ajar and simmer for 50 min, stirring now and then, until the grains have burst and are very soft and most of the water has been absorbed. If it dries out first, add a little more hot water.

   Add in this stepWater 800 ml

   high heat→low heat

3. Add the milk, sugar, cardamom and the saffron crumbled between your fingers, and simmer over low heat for 18 min, stirring. Press a few times with a potato masher to crush some of the grains for a creamy texture that still has bite. When it coats the spoon thickly like rice pudding, turn off the heat (it thickens more as it cools).

   Add in this stepMilk 400 mlSugar 40 gGround cardamom ½ tspSaffron threads 1 pinch

   low heat

4. Divide between small cups or glasses. You can eat it warm, but covered and chilled for at least 1 h it becomes richer and more set.

5. For the date caramel, soak the pitted dates in the hot water for 10 minutes until soft, then blend them with their water and the butter until smooth. If it's too thick, add hot water 1 tsp at a time.

   Add in this stepMedjool dates, pitted 6Hot water (for the caramel) 60 mlButter (soft) 10 g

6. Toast the pistachios in a dry pan over medium-low heat for 3 min until fragrant, then chop roughly. Top each pudding with a spoonful of date caramel and scatter over the pistachios.

   Add in this stepUnsalted pistachios 20 g

   medium-low heat