and it mentioned a drink called Sahlab. It is described as a hot, sweet vanilla drink with hints of cinnamon and coconut. It sounded so good I had to see it if was real. What do you know it was. The next step, of course, was to make some.
Traditionally, sahlab is made with salep flour or powder which is made by grinding the roots of a particular orchid. Ok, I didn't have that on hand but, a lot of recipes used cornstarch as a thickener instead. It seems there are a lot of ways to flavor it, rose or orange water, pistachios or walnuts but I wanted the flavors mentioned in the book, vanilla, cinnamon and coconut. The end result was surprisingly good with a flavor that reminded both Matt and I of vanilla pudding. The coconut flakes were a little odd in it, a drink you can chew, but, added good flavor.
Sahlab
(I used this recipe and made the measurements more specific)
2 c milk
1/2 c water
2 T cornstarch
1 t vanilla
2 T sugar
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of coconut flakes (I used sweetened but you could use unsweetened too)
Put the milk in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk the water and cornstarch together and add to the milk. Add the vanilla and sugar. Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring the whole time. Let boil while stirring for 2 minutes, it should thicken slightly.
Divide between 2 mugs. Sprinkle cinnamon & coconut on top.
2 Servings.
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12 comments:
yes i have! funny. and then i go to the internet and try and find it. is that what you did? and it has coconut in it. YUM
Ahhh, pour me a cup and lets chat.
i'm almost afraid the taste of cornstarch would power through, but with the cinnamon and coconut in there as well, i think i could deal. :)
This looks good! I am going to have to try this one!
That looks lovely! I used to go to a cafe in Sydney that served sahlep. It was very comforting on rainy nights! I must make it myself next time I am feeling a bit droopy.
All the time! I'm always jotting down foods and drinks mentioned, so much so that I have a list going to research. This sounds amazing. New to me as well.
Oh, that looks good! I'm the same way. We have tuna salad all the time the way Hemingway described it in one of his books, whose name escapes me at the moment.
So funny! I found this page because I'm currently reading The Red Pyramid and thought the same thing, ("that sounds so good, I want to try it"), so I started searching for a recipe. Can't wait to try this! Thanks! :-)
I was reading the 39 Clues, (A book series by several different authors, one being Rick Riordan) And I found this drink being mentioned while the main characters were in Egypt. I thought I had to try it. The book described it as a: "Smooth and creamy, milky drink." I haven't made it yet, but I have the ingredients for it. Going to make it in a bit. Thanks for the recipe!
This is fantastic! We're having Egypt Week and my daughter remembered reading about sahlab in Riordan's book. I did a search and found you. Thanks!
Hi, I am so happy you did this! I was trying so hard to find Sahlab after the book "The Red Pyramid". I found that it had an odd texture cause of the coconut but the flavour was right on! So I added creamed coconut in it instead of the flakes. Worked great! Thank you so much!
true man this is an oriental drink in both Syria and Egypt, am originally Egyptian and let me tell you, in winter this is a warm crazy ass drink it get u super warm in no time and here is a new ingredient to it take off the coconuts and cinnamon and add raisins and pistachio the recipe u have is the Syrian one one more thing you can also make pudding out of it. and if liked "sahlab" try this "mahalabiya" < another crazy sweet thing all the best mate.
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