Fragrant Milk Pudding flavored with Mastic (Muhallabia)

Muhallabia is a fragrant Middle Eastern milk pudding flavored with Mastic, orange blossom water & rose water. It is slightly sweetened, rich, creamy and super easy to make.

In this recipe, we flavor our milk pudding with Mastic. It is a resin produced by a tree native to the Mediterranean basin, particularly the island of Chios in Greece. When it falls from the tree, mastic resin resembles tear drops, which is why they’re often referred to as the Tears of Chios.

During the Ottoman rule in the 1800s, mastic resin was so valuable that it was worth its weight in gold. Mastic resin is sticky and chewy and is often used as a natural chewing gum, its distinct flavor and aroma is similar to pine or cedar. To use it in cooking, we need to first grind it into a fine powder. We usually leave our mastic in the freezer. When frozen, mastic is much easier to crush into powder.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups full-fat organic cow milk
1 cup cream (optional – if not using, replace with 1 cup milk)
0.5 cup cornstarch
0.75 cup sugar
0.25 tsp mastic (frozen then crushed to powder)
2 tsp rose water
2 tsp orange blossom water

Garnish:
- pistachios, crushed or powdered
- pomegranate seeds

METHOD

Put the milk, cream (if using) and cornflour in a small pot. Place over a medium-high heat and start whisking fast to dissolve the cornstarch properly while the milk is still cold otherwise it’ll leave you lumps in the pudding.
After the cornstarch has been completely dissolved, you can now continue whisking slowly making sure you get the sides and the bottom of the pot.
After a few mins, when the milk is warm, reduce the heat to low, add the sugar and ground mastic and continue stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes or until the milk thickens.
When the milk has thickened, add the rose water and orange blossom water and continue cooking the pudding, still whisking, for another 1-2 mins.
Turn off the heat, pour into small bowls or ramequins. Let the milk pudding cool down then chill in the fridge for a few hours.
Garnish and serve slightly chilled.

REMARKS

Always use rose water and orange blossom water sparingly. These condiments are quite concentrated and a few drops too much will leave a bitter unpleasant taste in the food.