Um Nabil’s Muhalabiya

During my recent trip to Bahrain, I had the pleasure of trying the creamiest rice muhalabiya, made by the talented Um Nabil. She shared her recipe with me, which follows a simple 1:1 ratio, for every tablespoon of rice, you’ll need a cup of milk.

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Ingredients

• 3 cups milk

• 3 tbsp rice

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1 tbsp rose water

• 1/4 cup slivered almonds and pistachios

• saffron

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Method

• Soak the rice overnight in the fridge. Strain it the next day.

• In a blender, blend the rice and 1 cup of milk until completely smooth.

• In a saucepan, add the blended rice, 2 cups of milk, and sugar.

• Cook until slightly thickened whisking continuously. The mixture will not thicken so much, it will still be runny.

• Remove from heat and whisk in the rose water.

• Pour the mixture into ramekins.

• Cover and refrigerate until set.

• Bloom saffron with water. Mix in the pistachios and almonds.

• Before serving, add the nut mixture on top of each ramekin.

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