Mahalabi / Mahalabia

[Pam R]

I've been working on a few menus with some Israeli chefs, and I thought our 'coconut mahalabi' course was a play on a coconut panne cotta. One of the chefs I'm working with has a recipe that uses gelatin. But now the other chef has requested corn starch for his coconut mahalabi. To add to my confusion, one of the updated menus has 'mahalabi cream' on it, and another lists 'dates mahalabi'.

Googling doesn't help me much (Lebanese rice pudding?).

What is this dish?

[ChefCrash]

M'hallabiyeh can be thickened with cornstarch, ground rice or both. Usually flavored with Rose, or Blossom water and topped with nuts (pistachios, almonds) or dried fruit.

While warm, it's poured into individual serving bowls and chilled.

This pudding can be used to make Aish Al Saraya as well.

[Pam R]

Thanks ChefCrash. Is it just a general term for pudding then? Is it the same as kashta?

[ChefCrash]

Thanks ChefCrash.  Is it just a general term for pudding then? Is it the same as kashta?

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Pam

It's not a general term for pudding. It's the name of a specific dessert.

M'hallabiyeh has become pseudo Kashta. People use it as a substitution when Kashta can't be found.

Kashta is made by skimming the layer of clotted cream that forms on the surface of simmering milk.

Milk is warmed in very wide and shallow pans (so as to have a large surface area) and the surface is skimmed as each, new layer of (can't think of the word) forms.

I found that Ricotta cheese works in place of Kashta in recipes like Katayef or Znood El Sitt.