Sahlab

Ingredients

Drink

• 1 litrewhole milk
• 5 tbspcornflour
• 5 tbspsugar
• 1 tbsprose water
• or 1 tsp mastic, ground with sugar

If using real salep

• 2 tspsalep powder in place of the cornflour

To finish

• ground cinnamon, generously
• desiccated coconut
• crushed pistachios
• chopped hazelnuts
• raisins
• sometimes grated coconut and nuts together

To serve

• very hot, in glasses

Directions

1. Heat the rest of the milk with the sugar until steaming, but do not let it boil yet. Pour the slaked cornflour in slowly, whisking constantly. Now cook it over a medium heat, whisking without stopping, until it thickens and comes to a boil.
2. Let it boil for a full minute, because cornflour only reaches full thickening power at boiling point.
3. Whisk hard and reach into the corners of the pan, where it catches and scorches first. Take it off the heat and stir in the rose water or the ground mastic.
4. Add the flavouring off the heat, because rose water is volatile and boiling drives the perfume off entirely.
5. Grind mastic with a little sugar rather than alone, because it gums up instantly against a bare pestle. Go carefully with the rose water, since too much makes it taste of soap.
6. Pour it into glasses while it is very hot. Dust the surface thickly with cinnamon, then pile on coconut, pistachios, hazelnuts and raisins. Pile them on generously.
7. Serve immediately, very hot, with a spoon. It is drunk with a spoon as much as sipped, because the toppings sit on the thick surface.

Technique

• Ready-made sahlab sachets are sold everywhere in Egypt and are cornflour based.
• Mastic is used in some versions and gives a distinctive resinous note.
• It thickens a great deal as it stands and is loosened with hot milk.

Substitutions

• Cornflour, which is what virtually all commercial versions use.
• Rice flour for part of the cornflour, which gives a slightly different texture.

Variations

• Sachlav, the Israeli and Levantine version.
• Set as a cold pudding with more starch.
• With mastic rather than rose water.

History

Originally thickened with ground orchid tubers, whose Arabic name gave English salep; Egyptian versions now use cornflour and are sold hot in winter.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sahlab?

Sahlab is a drink from Egypt: warm thickened milk drink topped with cinnamon, coconut and nuts. Originally thickened with ground orchid tubers, whose Arabic name gave English salep; Egyptian versions now use cornflour and are sold hot in winter.

How long does Sahlab take to make?

Sahlab takes 5 min of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 cups. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Sahlab?

Yes, within limits. Cornflour, which is what virtually all commercial versions use. Rice flour for part of the cornflour, which gives a slightly different texture.

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

Heat the rest of the milk with the sugar until steaming, but do not let it boil yet. Pour the slaked cornflour in slowly, whisking constantly. Now cook it over a medium heat, whisking without stopping, until it thickens and comes to a boil.