Malabi
(also called mahalabya, muhallibieh and numerous other spellings) is
a milk dessert found all over the Middle East. It's usually flavoured
with rose water, though some versions call for orange flower water,
and occasionally mastic is substituted. Texture wise it can be
anything from slightly runny to a thick, almost jelly-ish
consistence. Either way, it's a luxurious, sensuous experience that is
actually quite straightforward to make.
Malabi with rose syrup and chopped nuts
Ingredients
500ml
milk
200g
sugar
5
tablespoons of cornflour
2
tablespoons of rose water/orange flower water
For
syrup
150ml
water
200g
sugar
1
tablespoonful rose water
red
or pink food colouring (optional)
For
topping
Desiccated
coconut
Flaked
almonds
Chopped
pistachios
Rose
petals (optional)
1.
Bring the milk and sugar to the boil in a saucepan, then reduce the
heat to a simmer
2.
In a separate bowl add a couple of spoonfuls of the hot milk to the
cornflour and mix until smooth (at this point keep one eye on the
milk, I didn't, and ended up spending the afternoon scraping the
burnt remnants off the cooker because I had forgotten that boiling
milk has a tendency to boil over... Cookery 101)
3.
Add the cornflour mixture to the pan and whisk well
4.
Continue to cook on a low heat for around 5 minutes until the milk
thickens, once it has the consistency of custard take it off the heat
5.
At this stage stir in the rose water or orange flower water
6.
Pour into serving bowls let the mixture cool, and then put the bowls
in the fridge
For
the sugar syrup:
Bring
the water to the boil in a pan and add the sugar, stirring constantly
until the sugar is dissolved.
Reduce
the heat and let the mixture simmer until it thickens to a syrup,
then add the rose water and take off the heat
Once
it's cooled slightly add a couple of drops of food colouring (if
you're using)
Allow
to cool completely and refrigerate
To
serve:
Drizzle
some rose syrup over each bowl of malabi and sprinkle on the nuts.
Eat!
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