Semolina Honey Almond Pudding

I have a kilo of semolina that i 've only used about 100g + for a failed cake recipe and a traditional kuih talam ( i got the kuih right but the portion of it is big for my small family size. i had to 'donate' it out for the thankful neighbors). So what else is semolina flour is good for? other than cake, & traditional kuih, apparently its pudding. But obviously the recipe DID NOT call for a 900g worth of semolina flour. Again we are only using it for about another 100g, it seem like its gonna take forever to use up all the semolina flour, right? I keep my semolina left over flour in the fridge so that i can hold on to its 'freshness' longer or at least until figure out what to do with them.

I came up with this recipe inspired by the middle east dessert of rice pudding, the texture and taste i basically based on the 'cake' and 'kuih' i supposed and that is why i have the idea of the honey and almond in the mix. its good combo i must say and i must add that its a VERY comforting food (*whispering* and filling too) well at least to me it is.

if you ask me about its origin, i'm not sure but i think its probably be Greek? coz if i am not mistaken, the word semolina derived from a Greek word 'semidalis' weird huh? well more directly it was from Italian word 'semola' that was borrowed from a latin word 'simila' which means flour that borrow from the Greek word....heh am i making any sense? well if you don't just google semolina origin i'm sure you'll get the appropriate info about this.

anyways...my dessert is inspired by the middle east rice pudding. I suck at making rice pudding and hate tasting it coz its just weird having rice as dessert. I am pretty sure that Malaysian palate is not accustom to sweetened rice *blurgh* but then again maybe its just me.

Ok Ok moving on...here is the recipe:

500ml milk (this is a plus minus please add more if the mixture is too thick)
knob of butter ( i actually put in about a table spoon of quality butter it really makes the difference)
60g semolina
1c water
5tbsp honey
11/2tbsp ground almond
a tiny pinch of salt

- soak semolina in 1 cup of water. until it swollen and less watery. this should take about 10-15minutes. but if your mixture is thick after few minutes of mixing, add in a couple table spoon of water.( the idea is to swollen the grain,this step will make the cooking time a lot faster)

- heat milk & butter until it gently simmering. then add in the 'swollen' semolina mixture.

- cook it until it have that ALMOST 'custardy' texture then add in the ground almond, honey, salt. Stir and mixing it thoroughly under a med-low fire.

- the mixture texture should be thick but slightly runny. the pudding will set further after chill time. So your mixture should not be too tight and thick. you get what i mean? if you don't just ask, i'll be happy to help. ;)

- place your mixture in a ramekins of your choice and let it chill! well i personally like it when its still warm ^_^