Muhallabia – A Moroccan Style Milk Pudding Made w/Homemade Almond Milk & Rosewater – Vegan

A lifetime without Love is of no account

Love is the Water of Life

Drink it down with heart and soul!

      – Rumi

Here we are again, another Valentines Day is upon us. Even though I’m not a huge fan of this holiday but let’s cherish it and make sure we spend it with our loved ones. Just remember certain things in life simply have to be experienced and never explained.  Love is such a thing. I wish you and yours a very Happy Valentines Day!

As I pondered over the thought of a Valentines Day post, I could not come up with anything other than a cute little heart shaped cake or a red velvet cupcake recipe. The problem with that thought was that yours truly is not a baker, therefore I always love dessert recipes which do not involve any baking what so ever.

I came up with this tasty & tempting Moroccan dessert called Muhallabia. Silky and light, this traditional pudding is a classic throughout North Africa and the Middle East. Often served at religious feasts, it can be flavored with rosewater or orange flower water.

First time I had this creamy dessert was in Fes, Morocco at a enchanting guest house called Dar Roumana. Our beautiful host Jennifer Smith treated us to an ultimate Moroccan feast. Jennifer’s grand finale to our marvelous culinary experience that night was a Muhallabia, and I was in love from that moment on.

Traditionally Muhallabia is made with whole milk and sweetened with superfine sugar. I wanted to make this dessert more healthy and vegan, so I chose to make my Muhallabia with Homemade Almond Milk. Almond milk is very easy to make at home, you can certainly use the store bought ones but I choose to use homemade version. Basically take one and half cup of blanched almonds and two and a half cups of water, Pulverize them in a heavy duty blender for few minutes, drain the almond milk into a fine sieve.

Recipe Adapted from Ghillie Basan’s Flavors of Morocco

INGREDIENTS:

Serves 4-6

1/2 cup rice flour

4 cups of almond milk

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar

2 teaspoons rosewater

chopped pistachios for garnish

METHOD:

1. In a small bowl, mix the rice flour with a little bit of the almond milk to form a loose paste.

2. Pour the rest of the almond milk into a heavy base saucepan and stir in the sugar. Bring the milk to a boiling point, stirring all the time, until sugar has dissolved.

3. Reduce the heat and stir a spoonful or two of the hot almond milk into the rice flour paste, then tip the mixture into the pan, stirring all of the time to prevent the rice flour from forming lumps.

4. Bring the almond milk back to a boil and stir in the rosewater.

5. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 2-25 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the mixture becomes quite thick and coats the back of the spoon.

6. Pour the mixture into serving bowls and leave to cool. Chill in the refrigerator and just before serving garnish with chopped pistachios.