Muhallabiah - milk pudding

Muhallabiah is a milk pudding that you can find all around the Middle East. It is thickened with either cornstarch or rice flour and flavored with orange blossom water or rose water. It is normally served in a cup or a glass accompanied by a fruit gelée or simply with pistachios or walnuts. It’s quite delicate and not too sweet. I normally serve it in martini glasses, but since this month’s theme for Waiter There’s Something In My… is terrine, I thought I’d turn it into a terrine. The recipe is the same, I just let everything cook a little longer than usual, so that it would thicken a bit more and “hold its shape”. I must say I prefer the glass version, since the texture you get by longer cooking is too jelly-like for me. I prefer a smoother, more fluid texture, but if you’re a fan of Jell-O, this is the right terrine for you.

Muhallabiah

For the orange gelée:
300 g fresh orange juice, filtered (I used blood oranges, that’s why the gelée looks so red)
30 g sugar
15 g cornstarch

For the milk pudding:
450 g full fat milk
45 g cornstarch
75 g sugar
1 tablespoon orange blossom water

Pistachio nuts to decorate

Normally I would start by preparing the milk pudding, since it is placed in the bottom of the cup, but in this case I started with the orange gelée.

Prepare the gelée: carefully mix together the cornstarch and 50 g orange juice. Add the sugar and the rest of the juice, mix well. Pour everything into a saucepan and place it on a very low heat until it starts to thicken, stirring constantly - in case you’re making a terrine simply let it thicken a little longer. Remove from the heat and pour everything into your terrine mould. Let cool or refrigerate.

Prepare the milk pudding: mix the cornstarch with 50 g cold milk – a whisk makes it very easy. Add the sugar and the rest of the milk, mix well. Place everything into a saucepan and place it on a very low heat until it starts to thicken, stirring constantly. Add the orange blossom water and cook a few more minutes. Again, if you’re making a terrine, cook longer – otherwise remove it from the heat when the pudding starts to thicken. Pour the pudding on top of the cold orange gelée and refrigerate.

When ready to serve, turn the terrine mould upside-down and decorate with coarsely ground pistachio nuts.