This is the traditional sweet dish of muslims new year celebrations. After the big flood, prophet Noah had to prepare one last dish using what has been left in the boat. They had to mix 40 different ingredients to prepare this last dish, just before they had reached the safe land. That is how ashura had been born. Nobody prepares it using so many ingredients anymore though. You will find the basics below. We leave the ingredients in water bath in different bowls overnight, but you can use directly a can of boiled legumes. The amount of sugar depends on your taste, just keep in mind that it tastes sweeter when it is hot and boiling. So consider some loss of sugar taste until it gets cool. The only thing that I cannot guide you is, the amount of water. It depends on how you start to cook, with cans or not? Add water in any case; until you reach the consistency of a soup and it will get kind of "jellied" during the cooling process. It may seem strange to you to link legumes to a "sweet" dish but it is healthy and light, also nutricious considering the fiber and vitamin B it contains. It would sound a complicated process but you can divide the work in a couple of days or minimize it by using canned food.
2 cups hulled wheat
1 cup chickpeas
1 cup canellini beans
1/4 cup rice (preferably short grain)
1 1/4 cups sugar
7-8 dried apricots
1/2 cup raisins
chopped walnuts, cinnamon and pistachos to decorate
If you are using dry ingredients, start buy washing the wheat throughly a couple of times and put it in water bath, preferably in the morning, for at least 12 hours. Before you go to bed in the evening, bring it to a boil with enough water in a big pot and leave overnight to cool. Also remember to soak other legumes in water bath separately in the evening. Next day you will have your wheat doubled in volume and quiet soft, and the legumes ready to cook. Boil the wheat until they get soft enough to press with your fingers. You can prepare boiled wheat this way and divide in portions to be kept in freezer to use in salads or your cereal bowl later on. Cook chickpeas and beans together until they get soft too. At this stage you can leave them to cool and continue next day if you are already feeling exhausted:-) Finally mix wheat, rice and the legumes in the same pot, add water to reach the soup consistency (and a little more) and put on low heat. In the meantime cut apricots in small cubes and soak them in warm water with raisins for 15-20 mins. Add sugar in wheat mixture while stirring slowly and boil for additional 10 mins. Sugar will rise the amount of water in the pot, nevermind. Strain raisins and apricots before adding to the pot and turn off the heat. Pour ashura in small bowls while it is hot and garnish with cinnamon and walnuts. Pomegranate bits are another item to decorate, if they are available. Serve warm or cold.
Thank you! In this angry world, it is SO nice to see 'home' Muslim touches and to imagine you and your family sitting down to enjoy this special traditional dish.
How much I agree with "ak" ! And I remember that several days ago Paz had a congratulation note on her blog wishing all Muslims a very happy New Year and at the same time declared that she was eager to learn about special food to be prepared on this day, so here it goes ! Thank you for sharing, Tülin. Multicultural exchange is so important in our world - and it makes foodblogging especially precious. Hugs, angelika
I want to thank both of you for your nice comments. Mutual understanding is all we need in this world and I am happy to see this type of exchanges in other blogs too. All cultures and religions have their traditional dishes and I am happy to read and try them myself.
This is the traditional sweet dish of muslims new year celebrations. After the big flood, prophet Noah had to prepare one last dish using what has been left in the boat. They had to mix 40 different ingredients to prepare this last dish, just before they had reached the safe land. That is how ashura had been born. Nobody prepares it using so many ingredients anymore though. You will find the basics below. We leave the ingredients in water bath in different bowls overnight, but you can use directly a can of boiled legumes. The amount of sugar depends on your taste, just keep in mind that it tastes sweeter when it is hot and boiling. So consider some loss of sugar taste until it gets cool. The only thing that I cannot guide you is, the amount of water. It depends on how you start to cook, with cans or not? Add water in any case; until you reach the consistency of a soup and it will get kind of "jellied" during the cooling process. It may seem strange to you to link legumes to a "sweet" dish but it is healthy and light, also nutricious considering the fiber and vitamin B it contains. It would sound a complicated process but you can divide the work in a couple of days or minimize it by using canned food. 
If you are using dry ingredients, start buy washing the wheat throughly a couple of times and put it in water bath, preferably in the morning, for at least 12 hours. Before you go to bed in the evening, bring it to a boil with enough water in a big pot and leave overnight to cool. Also remember to soak other legumes in water bath separately in the evening. Next day you will have your wheat doubled in volume and quiet soft, and the legumes ready to cook. Boil the wheat until they get soft enough to press with your fingers. You can prepare boiled wheat this way and divide in portions to be kept in freezer to use in salads or your cereal bowl later on. Cook chickpeas and beans together until they get soft too. At this stage you can leave them to cool and continue next day if you are already feeling exhausted:-) Finally mix wheat, rice and the legumes in the same pot, add water to reach the soup consistency (and a little more) and put on low heat. In the meantime cut apricots in small cubes and soak them in warm water with raisins for 15-20 mins. Add sugar in wheat mixture while stirring slowly and boil for additional 10 mins. Sugar will rise the amount of water in the pot, nevermind. Strain raisins and apricots before adding to the pot and turn off the heat. Pour ashura in small bowls while it is hot and garnish with cinnamon and walnuts. Pomegranate bits are another item to decorate, if they are available. Serve warm or cold.
Thank you! In this angry world, it is SO nice to see 'home' Muslim touches and to imagine you and your family sitting down to enjoy this special traditional dish.
How much I agree with "ak" ! And I remember that several days ago Paz had a congratulation note on her blog wishing all Muslims a very happy New Year and at the same time declared that she was eager to learn about special food to be prepared on this day, so here it goes ! Thank you for sharing, Tülin. Multicultural exchange is so important in our world - and it makes foodblogging especially precious. Hugs, angelika
I want to thank both of you for your nice comments. Mutual understanding is all we need in this world and I am happy to see this type of exchanges in other blogs too. All cultures and religions have their traditional dishes and I am happy to read and try them myself.
Dear Paz, I want to thank you again for your kindness and interest about the new year issue. I would like to serve you this dish someday in real:-)