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Muhallebi ( or محالبی; ) is a milk pudding commonly made with rice, sugar, milk and either rice flour, starch or semolina, popular as a dessert in the Middle East. While the dessert is called muhallebi in Turkey and Iraq, in other countries in the region (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, and Israel) it is called malabi, mahalabiyeh or mehalabiya.
In the Middle Ages, muhallebi and its European counterpart blancmange were made with shredded chicken. There are records from the Ottoman Empire for two versions of muhallebi: a version with shredded chicken ( tavuk göğsü) served during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror, and a later recipe dating to 1530 for a meatless version flavored with rose water.
One 19th-century, English cookbook that gives a recipe for muhallebi calls it "Ramazan cakes". The recipe calls for boiling milk together with rice flour and sugar until the mixture reduces. The pudding is flavored with rose or jasmine extract, and allowed to cool before it is sprinkled with powdered sugar.
In Syria, there is a variation of محلاية (" mahalayeh") called بالوظة (" balouza") that is the classic milk pudding but with a layer of orange jelly on top. Other flavours of the jelly layer can be used, like rose syrup. Mahalayeh sold in restaurants in Syria is always served with three striped toppings of slivered almonds, cream, sliced pistachios, and a maraschino cherry. The famous booza shop, Bakdash, in Damascus, serves mahalayeh as well as booza.
In Lebanon, versions of balouza that are flavored with orange blossom water are served in restaurants.
In Israel, in order to avoid violating Kashrut (Jewish dietary laws), variations of malabi () use almond milk instead of regular milk, especially when offered in conjunction with meat dishes.
In Cyprus, muhallebi is called "μαχαλλεπί ( in Cypriot Greek)" and it can also be found in a non-dairy version alongside the version that contains milk (μαχαλλεπίν του γαλάτου; ). The Cypriot non-dairy muhallebi is made from water, sugar, cornstarch, and rose water, which is optional. When the muhallebi is set, Cyprus add rose squash/cordial/syrup called "triantafyllo" (τριαντάφυλλο) on top of it.
Mastic can be used as a flavoring for muhallebi.
Selanik tatlısı, attributed to the kitchens of historic Salonica, is made by thickening a basic stovetop muhallebi with eggs and baking it with a sweetened shortcrust pastry. The dessert is soaked in simple syrup before serving. Also hailing from historic Salonica is muhallebi baklava (similar to the Greek galaktoboureko).
is a Palestinian dessert from the city of Nablus, made from a filling of balouza (semolina pudding flavored with rose water) which is then wrapped in a thin sheet of dough, and then fried and topped with powdered sugar and nuts.
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