Cezerye

Grated carrot is boiled and then roasted dry with sugar until the paste comes away from the pan in one mass.

Vegan.

Ingredients

1.2 kg carrots, coarsely grated
500 g granulated sugar
200 ml water
150 g walnuts, coarsely chopped
100 g hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
80 g pistachios, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
juice of ½ lemon

to coat

120 g desiccated coconut

Method

GRATED CARROT IS BOILED AND THEN ROASTED DRY WITH SUGAR UNTIL THE PASTE COMES AWAY FROM THE PAN IN ONE MASS. Two stages and the second is the long one. The carrot is first simmered until completely soft, then the sugar goes in and the heat is kept on while the water cooks away -- forty-five minutes or more of stirring, through a stage where it looks like wet jam, past the point where it looks done, until the mixture has darkened to a deep orange-brown, the spoon leaves a clear trail across the base, and the whole mass follows the spoon and pulls away from the sides of the pan in one piece. That is the test. Stopped at the jam stage, it will never set and cannot be cut.
IT HAS TO BE DRY ENOUGH TO CUT AND THAT MEANS DRIER THAN LOOKS SENSIBLE. The finished paste should be stiff enough that a spoonful holds its shape and does not slump at all. Any remaining free moisture and the chips stay tacky forever and go mouldy within the week instead of keeping for months.
THE CARROT IS GRATED COARSE AND NOT BLENDED. Coarse shreds break down over the long cooking into a paste that still has a little fibre and body to it. Blended to a purée first, the result is smooth and slightly gluey and has no texture.
THE NUTS GO IN AT THE VERY END, OFF THE HEAT. Chopped walnuts, hazelnuts and pistachios stirred through the finished paste. Added during the roasting they soften and lose their crunch over three-quarters of an hour, and their oil can turn in the heat.
IT IS PRESSED INTO A TRAY, SET FIRM, AND CUT INTO SMALL RECTANGLES. About one and a half centimetres thick, left several hours until completely firm, then cut into chips roughly the size of a matchbox. It is intensely sweet and the portion size is the point.
EACH PIECE IS ROLLED IN DESICCATED COCONUT. All faces, pressed on. It stops them sticking to each other and is part of how the thing eats -- the dry coconut against the dense chewy paste.
THE LEMON JUICE GOES IN WITH THE SUGAR. It keeps the sugar from crystallising over the long cook and lifts what would otherwise be a flat sweetness.
The carrots grated COARSE and simmered in the water 25 MINUTES, until completely soft.
The sugar and lemon juice stirred in and dissolved.
Cooked on over a MEDIUM heat, STIRRING almost constantly, 45 MINUTES or more.
Continued past the point where it looks like jam, until the mixture is DEEP ORANGE-BROWN, the spoon leaves a CLEAR TRAIL across the base, and the whole mass PULLS AWAY FROM THE SIDES in one piece.
Taken off the heat; the cinnamon and all the chopped nuts stirred through.
Pressed into a lined tray to about 1.5 cm and levelled.
Left at room temperature 4 to 6 HOURS, until completely firm.
Cut into small rectangles about the size of a matchbox.
Each piece ROLLED in the desiccated coconut on all faces.
TESTED: a piece should be firm, chewy and not tacky to the fingers. Stickiness means it was not cooked dry enough.
Keeps 2 months in a tin.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Turkey · All recipes