Kazandibi

Kazandibi is a Turkish sweet in which the bottom of a milk pudding is browned to a deep brown and then turned over for serving. Its name means “bottom of the pot.” The toasty flavor of the lightly scorched surface complements the soft, white milk layer.

Browning the bottom of a milk pudding

When milk and sugar are combined with rice flour or starch and heated while stirring, the result is a thickened muhallebi. Starch absorbs water and swells as it warms, and when it cools, the pudding becomes firm enough to cut. In one method, this milk pudding is browned in a shallow metal tray, chilled, cut, and rolled with the browned side facing outward. The browned surface appears on the outside when the sweet is turned over.

Versions with chicken and with milk only

Some kazandibi is made by browning the bottom of tavuk göğsü, in which chicken breast is shredded finely and cooked with milk, while other kazandibi is made from muhallebi without chicken. Some milk pudding shops in Istanbul still use chicken. The method in which the chicken fibers are finely processed and blended into the milk and the version made only from milk and starch have a similar browned surface, but what is inside differs.

Istanbul’s milk pudding shops

A muhallebici, a shop selling milk puddings, offers kazandibi and sütlaç. Saray Muhallebicisi in Istanbul is described as making kazandibi in copper pans using water buffalo milk, süpye, and chicken breast. Süpye is a starch-containing liquid made by soaking rice in water and crushing it. At the shopfront, sweets made from the same milk sit side by side, differing in shape and texture.

Whereas sütlaç is rice pudding poured into bowls, kazandibi is distinguished by being cut and turned over to show its browned bottom.

Glossary