Mhalbi

Ingredients

Pudding

• 1 litrewhole milk
• 90 grice flour
• 120 gcaster sugar
• 1 pinchsalt
• 3 tbsprose water
• 1strip of lemon zest (optional)

To decorate

• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 2 tbspchopped pistachios or toasted almonds
• a few dried rose petals (optional)

Directions

1. Whisk the rice flour into 250 ml of the cold milk in a bowl until completely smooth, with no lumps at all; lumps formed now will never dissolve later.
2. Heat the remaining 750 ml milk with the sugar, salt and lemon zest in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until it steams and the sugar has dissolved.
3. Pour the rice-flour slurry into the hot milk in a steady stream while whisking constantly.
4. Cook over low heat, stirring without stopping with a wooden spoon and reaching into the corners of the pan, for 12 to 15 minutes.
5. Watch for the mixture to thicken to the consistency of pouring custard, then to coat the spoon so a drawn finger leaves a clean line, and to lose all taste of raw starch.
6. Take off the heat, remove the zest, and stir in the rose water; adding it off the heat keeps the perfume, which boils away in seconds.
7. Pour into small glasses or shallow bowls through a fine sieve, filling them to within 1 cm of the rim.
8. Cool to room temperature, pressing cling film onto the surface if you dislike skin, then chill for at least 3 hours until set to a soft, spoonable cream that just holds its shape.
9. Dust generously with cinnamon in stripes or through a stencil, scatter with pistachios and rose petals, and serve cold.

Technique

• Constant stirring over low heat is the whole technique. Rice flour catches on the base within seconds and a scorched pudding cannot be rescued.
• The set is soft, not firm. Mhalbi should wobble and be eaten with a spoon, quite unlike a cornflour blancmange, and it firms slightly further overnight.
• Rose water strength varies enormously by brand. Start with two tablespoons, taste, then add more, since too much tastes of soap.
• Known as muhallabia across the Levant, the Algerian version is distinguished by the heavy cinnamon dusting and by being set in small individual glasses.

Substitutions

• No rice flour: cornflour works at 70 g, though the texture is glossier and more gelatinous than the slightly grainy traditional set.
• Orange-flower water can replace the rose water, giving a version closer to the Algiers palate.

Variations

• Some cooks stir a tablespoon of ground almonds into the milk for a richer, cloudier pudding.
• A layered version alternates plain and cocoa-flavoured mhalbi in the glass.
• In the east it is often set thicker in a large dish and cut into squares.

History

A cool set pudding of rice flour, milk and orange-blossom or rose water, served in small bowls during Ramadan and in summer.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mhalbi?

Mhalbi is a dessert from Algeria: rose-scented rice-flour milk pudding dusted with cinnamon. A cool set pudding of rice flour, milk and orange-blossom or rose water, served in small bowls during Ramadan and in summer.

How long does Mhalbi take to make?

Mhalbi takes 10 min of preparation and 20 min plus 3 hr chilling of cooking. The recipe makes 6 small glasses. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Mhalbi?

Yes, within limits. No rice flour: cornflour works at 70 g, though the texture is glossier and more gelatinous than the slightly grainy traditional set. Orange-flower water can replace the rose water, giving a version closer to the Algiers palate.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mhalbi?

Whisk the rice flour into 250 ml of the cold milk in a bowl until completely smooth, with no lumps at all; lumps formed now will never dissolve later.