United Arab Emirates – Mahalabiya

by Reshaeel Nisar

Introduction

Mahalabiya is a sweet dish which is commonly liked by many people all over the West Asian countries such as United Arab Emirates and Turkey. This dish has become the local cuisine of these countries. It is a custard looking dish with a sweet taste and many people likes its delicious taste and wonderful smell.

It is an easy dish to make, anyone can make it in few minutes. It is also known as milk custard in other countries but it is known as Mahalabiya in United Arab Emirates. There are many kinds of desert in the world. Mahalabiya is also a sweet dish which is a famous desert dish in west asian countries.

The main components of this are milk, sugar and cream. These ingredients make it a complete and delicious dish. Many people likes to eat this sweet dish in the month of Ramadan after aftar. As we know that Ramadan is an Islamic month for Muslims and people do fasting in this month so this is a kind of dish which is liked by them in aftari. This dish is preferred because it contains milk and dry fruits which are a common source of nutrition. And people seeks healthy dishes for aftar after a complete day of fasting.

You can garnish this dish with anything you want such as almonds or pistachio or other things. I garnish it with some topping and other dry fruits which makes it look beautiful and delicious

Sweet Dish

It is a kind of sweet dish commonly liked by children. Mahalabiya is a desert which is a tasty as well as a delicious dish. People eat this dish in their happy moments such as at Eids or other functions where they express happiness by eating sweet dishes, and Mahalabiya is on top of them. Mahalabiya is rich in sugar because of the presence of sugar in it, and that’s why it is a sweet dish.

Traditional and Historical point of view

Mahalabiya is a sweet Arabic dish that is commonly eaten in Yemen and other cities of the United Arab Emirates and other west Asian countries. It is also known as an Egyptian milk custard. This dish is originated from the middle east and commonly liked by people over there. It is a milk-based dessert that is very popular among people. This dessert is commonly eaten by most people in the month of Ramadan. This sweet dish was first introduced by a Persian cook in the seventh century. And look here after so many years, this sweet dish is still the favorite sweet dish of people in Arab countries. By the changing period of time, the variations for this has been changed a little bit. Many different regions have different variations. Some use different ingredients for garnishing and some use others, it’s up to you.

Ingredients

Ingredients for Milk Pudding

• Corn flour 3 tbs
• (Milk) ½ liter
• Rosewater ½ tbs
• (Sugar) 3 tbs

Ingredients for Rooh Afza Cream

• Rooh afza 3-4 tbs
• Cream 3-4 tbs

Ingredients for Topping

• (Water) ¼ Cup
• Piping bag
• Rooh afza 2 tbs
• Corn flour 1 & ½ tbs

Assembling

• Dry fruits chopped
• Rooh afza cream
• Pink milk pudding
• Topping
• Dry fruits chopped
• Milk pudding
• Topping

Steps to make

Steps for making milk pudding

• First of all, take a saucepan and add 1/2 liter milk, 3 tsp sugar, 3 tsp corn flour, 1/2 tsp rose water in it and mix well and cook it until the milk gets thicken.
• After the milk got thicken set it aside for some period of time.

Steps for making Rooh Afza Cream

• Take 3-4 tsp cream, and add 3-4 tsp rooh afza in it and mix it well and set it aside too.

Steps For Topping

• For topping take 1/4 cup of water in a jug and add 1 & ½ tbs corn flour, 2 tsp rooh afza in it, and mix it well.
• Now take a small frying pan and add the above mixture to it and cook it on low flame until it forms a thick shape and mix it continuously.

• After that take the piping bag and add the above topping mixture to it and set it aside for some period of time.
• And in the last step take a bowl and pour half milk pudding, 2 tbs rooh afza cream in it and mix it well.

Steps for Assembling

• For serving this dish take a serving glass and add chopped dry fruits and the above milk pudding in it and garnish it with topping which I’ve shown above and dry fruits and then refrigerate it for 2 hours.

• Take another serving glass and then add chopped dry fruits, reserved rooh afza cream and milk pudding in it and then garnish it with topping which is shown above and sprinkle dry fruits on the top of it and again refrigerate for 2 hours.

Time Requires

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Additional Information

Cuisine: West Asian cuisine

Cooking Level: Easy

Taste: Sweet

Servings: 4-5