Sneha's Recipe: Egypt

Mahalabia, also known as Mahalabi or Muhellabia , is a Middle Eastern dessert / pudding / custard made with milk, sweetened and flavored with rose or orange blossom water. Delcious and you will love it and takes just 10 minutes from start to finish. So easy and quick. While the dessert is called Muhallebi in Turkey and Iraq, the Egyptian variant is called Mahalabia.

Serves Two
Ingredients
250 ML Full Cream Milk
50 Grams Sugar
2 Tablespoon Water
1 Tablespoon Level Corn Flour
100 ML Fresh Cream
1 Tablespoon Level Rose Water
Pistachios for garnishing as required

Method

Combine milk and sugar together in a saucepan; bring to a boil, let it boil till sugar dissolves.
Mix water and corn flour together in a bowl until smooth; stir into boiling milk. Cook milk mixture over medium heat until thickened to the consistency of a thick pudding, for 2 -3 minutes, add the rose water and give it a quick stir.. Remove saucepan from heat and add the fresh cream mix it well and keep stirring it till it cools / comes to room temperature or else a scum will form on the top. Pour into into two pudding glasses garnish with silvered pistachios. Refrigerate the pudding to chill.

Serve this pudding chilled. Yum and delicious.
Labels: Sweets & Desserts, Pudding, No Bake Desserts, Milk, Corn Flour, Fresh Cream, Middle Eastern, Glass Verrines, Vegetarian, Egypt

We are sharing Egyptian recipes for this week's Sunday Funday.

Culinary Cam: Hawawshi and Other Egyptian-Inspired Dishes
Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Egyptian Borek (Cheese Filled Hand Pies)
Palatable Pastime: Baked Chicken with Baharat
A Day in the Life on the Farm: Salata Baladi
Sneha’s Recipe: Mahalabia
Karen's Kitchen Stories: Egyptian Sweet Rolls
Pandemonium Noshery: Molokhia
Mayuri's Jikoni: Egyptian Cookies

This month in Mena's Cooking Club our host Amira  choose two savory dishes an Egyptian Musaqaa and Egyptian Lentil Soup. We could choose any one but I decided to make both.

The key to making an authentic Egyptian lentil soup is in the spices – the cumin is a staple in most Middle Eastern soups.

Ingredients
½  Cup Red lentils
1 Onion - diced
1 Potato - peeled and diced
1 Carrot - diced
1 Celery Stock - chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic - minced
1 Teaspoon Olive oil
1 Bay leaf
½ Teaspoon Cumin powder or to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
¼ Teaspoon Cayenne pepper (optional)
A teaspoon of freshly squeezed lime
A small Vegetable Stock Cube
3 Cups of Water
Bread croutons

Method
Wash and soak lentils for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan, sauté onion and garlic. Then add lentils, potatoes, carrots, bay leaf and chopped celery. Add the water, vegetable soup and bring it to a boil. Cover and cook till done. Then add the cumin, pepper and salt to taste. Stir well and taste to see if the spices need to be adjusted.

Remove whole bay leaves and discard. Blend the soup to a smooth paste. Add water to adjust the consistency of the soup and transfer it back into the pan. Bring it to a boil.
Serve soup warm. Add freshly squeezed lime juice and Bread croutons.