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Sahlab
Sahlab: thick, warm Cairo winter milk drink with cinnamon, coconut and nuts
Sahlab is what Cairo drinks on a cold winter evening: a thick, sweet, steaming glass of milk sold in cafés and from street carts, topped with cinnamon, coconut, chopped nuts and a few raisins, and eaten as much with a spoon as drunk. The original thickener is powdered orchid root, which is now rare and protected, so most Egyptian households and many cafés use cornflour or a ready-made sahlab mix instead, as here. Chef's tip: keep whisking from the moment the thickened milk goes in until it boils; stop for a minute and it catches on the bottom of the pan and tastes scorched.
- Total time
- 13 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
To serve
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Whisk 3 tbsp cornflour into 150 ml of the cold ¾ cup whole milk until completely smooth.
Step 2: Heat the rest of the 3 ½ cups whole milk with 4 tbsp sugar in a pan over a medium heat until steaming and small bubbles appear at the edge, about 5 minutes.
5 minStep 3: Pour in the cornflour mixture, whisking all the time. Keep whisking over a medium heat for 3–4 minutes, until it boils and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon thickly. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp orange blossom or rose water.
4 minStep 4: Pour into heatproof glasses or mugs and top with 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tbsp desiccated coconut, 3 tbsp pistachios, walnuts or hazelnuts and 2 tbsp raisins. Serve at once with a spoon; it thickens as it cools.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 260 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 32 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does sahlab take?
- About 13 minutes in total: 3 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of whole milk?
- Semi-skimmed milk with 1 tbsp cream per 240ml (1 cup).
- What can I use instead of cornflour?
- Arrowroot or potato starch, same amount.
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