Muhallabiyya with Almonds
A smooth cream of milk, ground rice, and almonds, sweetened with honey and perfumed with rose water, sprinkled with pistachios or slivered almonds. Gentle, soothing, restorative.
A smooth cream of milk, ground rice, and almonds, sweetened with honey and perfumed with rose water, sprinkled with pistachios or slivered almonds. Gentle, soothing, restorative.
My physician and friend, he who told me the story of the Son of the Vigilant, repeated to me that the tired body is nourished by sweetness as much as by remedies. When fever or the road had exhausted me, they prepared muhallabiyya: milk thickened with ground rice and almonds, barely sweetened with honey, perfumed with a veil of rose water. Take it warm, in small spoonfuls: it restores strength without weighing on the stomach. The wise man also heals through cooking, you see.
- •Milk — abundant (base)
- •Ground almonds — a good handful (richness and perfume)
- •Ground rice (or starch) — a little (thickener)
- •Honey — to taste (sweetness)
- •Rose water — a dash (perfume)
- •Pistachios or slivered almonds — a few (decoration)
Muhallabiyya with Almonds
A smooth cream of milk, ground rice, and almonds, sweetened with honey and perfumed with rose water, sprinkled with pistachios or slivered almonds. Gentle, soothing, restorative.
Why this dish? Almond and rice creams, sweet and nourishing, were prized by court physicians as a strengthening food for the sick and weak — a concern that a learned caliph, surrounded by scholars including the physician-philosopher Ibn Tufayl, could not ignore.
My physician and friend, he who told me the story of the Son of the Vigilant, repeated to me that the tired body is nourished by sweetness as much as by remedies. When fever or the road had exhausted me, they prepared muhallabiyya: milk thickened with ground rice and almonds, barely sweetened with honey, perfumed with a veil of rose water. Take it warm, in small spoonfuls: it restores strength without weighing on the stomach. The wise man also heals through cooking, you see.
Ingredients (period version)
- Milk — abundant (base)
- Ground almonds — a good handful (richness and perfume)
- Ground rice (or starch) — a little (thickener)
- Honey — to taste (sweetness)
- Rose water — a dash (perfume)
- Pistachios or slivered almonds — a few (decoration)
Ingredients
- Milk — 500 ml (base)
- Almond flour — 60 g (richness and perfume)
- Rice starch or cornstarch — 40 g (thickener)
- Honey — 3 tablespoons (sweetness)
- Rose water — 1 teaspoon (perfume)
- Crushed pistachios — 1 handful (decoration)
Method
- Dissolve the starch in a little cold milk.
- Heat the remaining milk with the almond flour and honey.
- Pour in the dissolved starch and stir constantly over low heat until creamy and thick.
- Off the heat, perfume with rose water.
- Divide into small bowls, let cool or chill, sprinkle with pistachios before serving.
How it was made : Muhallabiyya, attested throughout the medieval Arabo-Muslim world, oscillated between festive dessert and medical diet food (often made with ground chicken in its savory version). Its sweetness and digestibility made it a convalescent dish.
The contemporary twist : Served warm in a verrine with a drizzle of saffron honey and a few crystallized rose petals.
Sources : Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī, Fiḍālat al-khiwān (XIIIe s.) · Lucie Bolens, La cuisine andalouse, un art de vivre, Albin Michel, 1990
Abu Yaqub Yusuf · Charactorium