TURKISH BAKED RICE PUDDING - DAMLA SAKIZLI FIRIN SUTLAC

INGREDIENTS:  Serves 4
•    4¼ cups milk

•    1 cup sugar

•    1½ tablespoon(s) rice flour

•    1½  tablespoon(s) wheat starch

•    1½ tablespoon(s) Arborio or other short grain rice

•    2 tablespoon(s) cream
•    1 teaspoon(s) vanilla
•    1 teaspoon(s) rose water (Found in Health food stores,  Middle Eastern or Asian Markets)

•    1 egg yolk

•    1 cup water

•    1 teaspoon(s) butter

DIRECTIONS: 

1.  At the very beginning, put the rice in a very small pot and pour 1 cup water into it. You will boil it
     until you finish the rest of preparation.  At the end of boiling, it should be like mush (should still
     have little water in it, not like rice in pilaf). (Never stir it)

2.  Put milk and sugar in a pot and cook it over medium heat.

3.  In a bowl, put rice flour and starch and add 3 tbsp milk(while it is still cold) and a little water (about
     3 tablespoons or so). Mix them together until rice flour and starch get lost, the mixture will be like
     soup, neither creamy nor watery.

4.  In another bowl, mix the yolk and add it in rice flour and starch mixture. Put 1 teaspoon butter in it.

5.  Now check the sugar and milk over medium heat and stir until it boils. When it starts to boil, pour
     the mixture above little by little and keep stirring quickly. After a few minutes, add rice mush in it.
     Keep stirring all the mixture in the pot until it boils and and gets dense.

6.  Finally, when it becomes like pudding, add vanilla and cream into it. Take the heat off.

7.  Pour it into small ovenproof bowls and wait until they get cold.

**COOK'S NOTES** 
(You can also serve it after you refrigerate for 2-3 hours. But if you want to reach the utmost flavor, you
should do the last step,  which follows.)

1.  When the bowls lose their heat, put some water in the oven tray (Bain Marie).  And place the bowls in
this tray. Water in the oven tray should cover ½ the body of bowls. 

**COOK'S NOTES** 
(The purpose to put the rice pudding in the oven is to burn the top, not to cook the pudding.)  That’s
why we put water in the tray.

2.  Preheat the oven to 400°F and place the oven tray in it. (be very careful not to have an accident and
spill the water). Bake it until the top of pudding has a  brown or dark brown color (at least 40 minutes.)

3.  After they reach the color you want, take the bowls out and let them get cool. When they are cool,
place them in refrigerator and serve it cold.

Some Turkish restaurants serve it with ground walnuts or pistachios sprinkled on top.