Malabi

Israeli Milk Pudding

This iconic Israeli dessert of cow’s milk, cornstarch, and rosewater is the perfect ending to any middle eastern style meal. It’s light, aromatic, and lovely to eat, and served in a clear bowl or glass, it makes a gorgeous presentation. But the best thing about it is that you can whip it up in about 15 minutes. The Raspberry Rosewater Syrup will cost you another 5 minutes or so. Just make it early in the day—it needs a minimum of 3 hours in the fridge, and longer is better.

The addition of vanilla bean paste is my own affectation. You can omit it. But … milk, sugar, dessert? If there had been vanilla bean pods growing in ancient Israel, I bet they would have been used in Malabi.

This recipe works perfectly with non-dairy milks as well, if that’s your preference. For a coconut malabi, use coconut milk and garnish with coconut shreds.

If you’re not a fan of rosewater, this can also be made with orange flower water—different, but equally delicious.

Note to those who would claim that the dish is Arabic, and insisting that calling it Israeli is “cultural appropriation:”

Humans have been a migratory species since they began to walk the earth. When a group of people move to a new region, they bring their culinary traditions with them. Given enough time, these recipes and ingredients are absorbed and become part of the local cuisine.

This is why there’s so much Chinese influence in Peruvian recipes, intertwined with ancient Quechuan ingredients. Potatoes are associated with Ireland, but they’re actually a new world vegetable. Also, many foods developed concurrently in different places. Is pasta Italian or Chinese? Although many people insist that a certain recipe is Israeli or Arabic, the truth is that hummus, baba ganoush, falafel … they belong to both cultures. In every locality, a slightly different spin is put on the same concept, which is why you’ll find chickpeas in some falafel and fava beans in others.

Call it malabi, muhallebi, mahalabia, or Israeli rosewater milk pudding, this dessert is popular across the middle east. The Arabic version generally uses rice flour as opposed to cornstarch. Let’s not nitpick. Food should bring us together, not drive us further apart. The purpose of food is to nourish our bodies and bring us joy.

Let’s try love instead of hatred.

It feels so much better in the gut and actually affects our physical health.

Oh, and there’s this thing called world peace.

Until the scales are tipped and more people love rather than hate, peace will only be a distant dream.

malabi

Ingredients:

• 4 cups milk (or 2 cups milk, 2 cups half and half)

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup cornstarch

• 1 tablespoon rose water

• ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• raspberry rosewater syrup (recipe below)

• Optional garnishes: rose petals, shredded coconut, chopped nuts

• A teeny tiny drop of pink food color (optional, looks pretty with the darker pink syrup on top)

Method:

• Combine the cornstarch with ½ cup milk in a bowl. It will be hard to mix at first, but keep going and you’ll achieve a smooth, flowing paste. Set the bowl aside.

• In a 2-4 quart saucepan, mix the remaining milk with the sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Watch the heat—you don’t want to scorch the bottom. It ruins the pudding and is a $%#^& to clean!

• Add a teeny tiny half-drop of pink food color if you’d like to.

• When small bubbles develop around the edge of the milk, give the cornstarch mixture another stir and slowly pour it into the pot, whisking all the while. This constant whisking is critical for a smooth, not lumpy, pudding.

• Bring it slowly to a boil over medium/low heat, still whisking. Once it comes to a full boil with craters popping on the surface, cook for another minute or two. The pudding should just coat the back of a spoon.

• (If you cook it for too long it will over-thicken. Cook it too little and it will taste chalky from the raw cornstarch. But don’t panic! It will be fine.)

• Remove from heat and stir in rose water and the vanilla, if using. Keep whisking for a few minutes after you remove it from the stove so that it doesn’t scorch on the bottom before it cools.

• Pour the malabi into serving dishes. If you want to prevent a skin from forming on the top of the puddings—some people don’t care and some people like it—Cover each dish with plastic wrap, gently pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding.

• Refrigerate the malabi until set, a minimum of 3 hours—longer is better.

• When you’re ready to serve, spoon a layer of the raspberry rosewater syrup over the top of each pudding.

• Garnish them artfully with coconut, chopped pistachios, slivered almonds, and/or rose petals.

For the Raspberry Rose Syrup

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup water

• 2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam

• 1 teaspoon rose water

Method:

• Combine the sugar and the water in a small saucepan.

• Bring it to a gentle boil and stir in the raspberry jam. Cook it for another minute, then remove the syrup from the heat and add the rosewater.

• Pour the syrup into a clean glass jar or container and refrigerate until ready to use.