flipMghli — spiced rice pudding
Mghli — spiced rice pudding
Why this dish? Mghli is the sweet of great joys in the Levant — it is prepared to celebrate a birth and offered to every visitor. For a man whose life is made of thresholds and rebirths — from the kid of Qassabin to the poet Adonis — it is the dessert of beginnings.
A thick, brown rice cream, long perfumed with cinnamon, anise and caraway, cooled in small bowls and crowned with soaked walnuts, almonds and pistachios. Sweet, spicy, comforting.
You don't make mghli for yourself: you make it to announce good news, a birth, a beginning. My life has known several — the one where I changed my name, the one where I changed my city, the one where I wanted to change Arabic verse itself. The cream simmers for hours, browned by cinnamon and caraway, and you wait, as you wait for a poem. Crown it with walnuts and soaked almonds, offer it to the visitor: it is a gentle way of saying that something, here, has just been born.
- •Ground rice (or rice flour) — one measure (thickening base)
- •Sugar — generous (sweetness)
- •Cinnamon, caraway, anise — abundant (signature spices)
- •Walnuts, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts — for topping (garnish)
Mghli — spiced rice pudding
A thick, brown rice cream, long perfumed with cinnamon, anise and caraway, cooled in small bowls and crowned with soaked walnuts, almonds and pistachios. Sweet, spicy, comforting.
Why this dish? Mghli is the sweet of great joys in the Levant — it is prepared to celebrate a birth and offered to every visitor. For a man whose life is made of thresholds and rebirths — from the kid of Qassabin to the poet Adonis — it is the dessert of beginnings.
You don't make mghli for yourself: you make it to announce good news, a birth, a beginning. My life has known several — the one where I changed my name, the one where I changed my city, the one where I wanted to change Arabic verse itself. The cream simmers for hours, browned by cinnamon and caraway, and you wait, as you wait for a poem. Crown it with walnuts and soaked almonds, offer it to the visitor: it is a gentle way of saying that something, here, has just been born.
Ingredients (period version)
- Ground rice (or rice flour) — one measure (thickening base)
- Sugar — generous (sweetness)
- Cinnamon, caraway, anise — abundant (signature spices)
- Walnuts, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts — for topping (garnish)
Ingredients
- Rice flour — 100 g (base)
- Sugar — 150 g (sweetness)
- Water — 1 litre (cooking liquid)
- Ground cinnamon — 2 tbsp (spice)
- Ground caraway — 1 tbsp (signature spice)
- Ground anise — 1 tsp (spice)
- Walnuts, almonds, pistachios (soaked), shredded coconut — for garnish (crown)
Method
- Dissolve the rice flour in cold water to avoid lumps, add the sugar.
- Incorporate the cinnamon, caraway and anise, bring to a simmer while stirring constantly.
- Let thicken over low heat for 20-30 min until it coats the spoon and turns brown.
- Pour into small bowls and let cool in the refrigerator for several hours.
- Before serving, crown with walnuts, almonds and pistachios previously soaked, and a little shredded coconut.
How it was made : In the Levant, the birth of a child triggers the preparation of mghli in large quantities, distributed to family and neighbors who come to congratulate. The warm spices (cinnamon, caraway, anise) were also considered comforting for the new mother.
The contemporary twist : Serve in verrines with a generous crown of dried fruits soaked the day before so they stay tender and shiny.
Adonis · Charactorium
