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⚠️ Heads-up: 4 of these ingredients (Egyptian Rice, Whole Milk (UK supermarket), Mastic resin, Pistachios) are not in our shop yet. Request them → or grab from a UK supermarket while we source.
“Roz belaban is the dessert of weeknight dinners and birthdays alike — cold from the fridge, with a brown blistered top from the grill, dusted with cinnamon or chopped pistachios. Whole milk and Egyptian short-grain rice. No shortcuts.”
— Dr Hany, Zambahola
— Dr Hany, Zambahola
🎤 Recipe credit: The video below is by Chef Gaber (Cooking Secrets) — we don’t reproduce the chef’s recipe text. Our notes are written from scratch with metric/cup conversions and UK substitutes for our diaspora and UK readers. Watch the original on the Cooking Secrets – Chef Gaber channel. · 103K views.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Metric | UK Cups | Notes / UK substitute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egyptian short-grain riceأرز مصري | 150 g | ¾ cup | Essential. We’re sourcing — for now use arborio. |
| Whole milk | 1.5 L | 6 cups | |
| Caster sugar | 150 g | ¾ cup | |
| Double cream | 150 ml | ||
| Vanilla pod or extract | 1 pod / 1 tsp | ||
| Mastic resin (mastika), crushed | a pinch | Optional but transforms it — available from Middle Eastern shops. | |
| Pistachios or cinnamon, to top | as you like |
Method
- Rinse the rice in cold water until it runs clearer. Drain.
- Bring milk and vanilla to a gentle simmer in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add rice. Stir.
- Cook on the lowest heat 25–30 min, stirring often, until thick and creamy. Don’t boil.
- Stir in sugar and the mastic if using. Cook 5 min more.
- Off the heat, fold in the cream. Pour into individual ramekins or one shallow dish.
- Cool, then chill at least 2 hours. Brown the tops under a hot grill for 30 seconds for the classic café finish.
- Top with pistachios or cinnamon. Serve cold.
🛒 Shop the ingredients on Zambahola
Most of what you need is on the shelf. Items still being sourced are flagged below.
Cardamom Powder
SARA 50g
Pecan Nuts
SARA 150g
Egyptian Rice
Coming soon · request
Whole Milk (UK supermarket)
Coming soon · request
Mastic resin
Coming soon · request
Pistachios
Coming soon · request
🎤 Listen instead — the Roz Belaban (Rice Pudding) podcast
A few minutes on the history, the ratios, and the chef’s little secret — generated with NotebookLM.
Audio coming — we will embed the NotebookLM podcast here within 24 hours.
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