Muhallebi Recipe
Muhallebi (Haytaliyeh) is an incredibly easy, quick, and delicious go-to Middle Eastern milk pudding recipe made with 3 ingredients in 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoon rice flour
- 2 ½ cups of whole milk
- ½ cup of sugar or to taste
- ½ teaspoon of ground cardamom
- Garnish: I used some crushed toasted almonds and ground cinnamon.
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients. In a large stainless steel saucepan, place the rice flour, sugar, and milk.
- Whisk to mix. Mix all the ingredients together using a whisk to create a smooth consistency with no lumps.
- Bring it to a gentle boil. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and stir around constantly till the pudding starts to thicken and starts to boil gently, about 5 minutes. At this point, you can taste and adjust sweetness.
- Let the pudding simmer. Pudding simmers on the lowest heat for additional 5 minutes till desired pudding consistency is achieved. Let it thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir around occasionally. No need to cover the pot. (keep in mind that pudding thickens up further as it cools down in the serving dish).
- Add the flavoring. Turn the heat off and add the ground cardamom and stir around. Taste and adjust the flavor.
- Serve and garnish. While the pudding is hot, pour it into serving bowls. Garnish with crushed almonds and ground cinnamon right before serving. You may serve it warm or chilled in the fridge for 2 hours. Either way tastes delightful. Enjoy!
Notes
Tips
- Make ahead. You can make this super simple dessert 3 days in advance. Cover it with plastic wrap and garnish it before serving.
- Double the recipe. This is an incredibly delicious dessert to have handy whenever you crave one. It is super delicious when chilled in the fridge.
- Pour it while it is hot. The pudding thickens up as it cools down and takes the shape of the serving dish. You can serve it either in individual serving cups or in a large dish to serve to a crowd.
- Stir constantly. Make sure to stir constantly till you bring the pudding mixture to a gentle boil. This will ensure that no lumps form and it does not get burned on the bottom of the pot.
- Garnish it when serving. This way the chopped nuts and other garnishes stay crunchy and look fabulous.
- Substitute rice flour. Pudding made with rice flour has a little bit of grainy texture to it. If you want, you can substitute it with cornstarch for a much creamier and smooth consistency. However, make sure to use the half amount of cornstarch in the recipe as it is a much higher thickening agent compared to the rice flour. Try both ways and see which one you prefer the best. (1:2 ratio of cornstarch to rice flour. e.g. substitute 2.5 tbsp of cornstarch for 5 tbsp. of rice flour)
- Substitute milk. To make the pudding super creamy you can substitute half of the milk with heavy cream, double cream, or whipped cream for a much more luxurious and creamy texture milk pudding.
- Use other flavorings. Saffron, orange blossom, vanilla, almond, or lemon extract, rose water, nutmeg, or other flavors of your choice. You can skip the flavorings too.
- Use other garnishes. Pine nuts, chopped or powdered walnut, pistachio, seasonal berries, chocolate chips. coconut flakes, jello, jam, honey, dried rose petals, pomegranate seeds, and dried fruits such as raisins, mango, cherries, or apricots.
- Make it vegan and dairy free. Use plant-based milk such as cashew milk, almond milk, oat milk, and coconut milk.
- Add butter. A tablespoon of butter for extra flavor and creaminess in step 5.
- Add sugar last. Adjust the sweetness to your taste. You always can add the sugar when the pudding starts to boil. Add as you go. Then mix and taste. If you need more sugar, add more!
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 479kcalCarbohydrates: 86gProtein: 11gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 135mgFiber: 1gSugar: 65g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!