Om Ali
Torn pastry baked in sweetened milk with nuts and coconut until the top blisters and the bottom turns to custard. Egypt’s national pudding, and supposedly named after a murder.
Photograph credit: Umm Ali Before Baking by Miansari66 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
The pastry is baked dry and crisp before any milk goes near it, which is the step that decides whether this is a pudding or a bowl of wet paper. Twelve minutes in a hot oven drives the moisture out and sets the layers, so they can absorb the milk without disintegrating. Pour the milk hot as well — cold milk over crisp pastry soaks unevenly, leaving dry patches on top and sludge underneath.
Questions About Om Ali
How long does Om Ali take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking, so at least 45 minutes. The method also needs time for cooling, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 8.
Photograph credit: Umm Ali by Miansari66 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
The Method for Om Ali
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Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Roll the pastry out thin, lay it on a tray and bake 12 minutes until puffed, dry and crisp. Cool, then tear into rough pieces.
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Scatter the torn pastry into a deep baking dish with the almonds, pistachios, coconut and raisins, mixing them through.
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Heat the milk, 200 ml cream, sugar and vanilla until steaming but not boiling. Stir in the rose water off the heat.
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Pour the hot milk evenly over the pastry and press everything down with the back of a spoon so it is submerged.
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Leave to soak for 10 minutes.
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Whip the remaining 150 ml cream to soft peaks and spread it over the top, then scatter with the extra almonds.
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Bake 30 minutes at 200°C / 390°F, until the top is blistered and deep brown in patches and the edges bubble. Rest 10 minutes before serving.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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A Few Pointers
- Bake the pastry crisp first. Raw pastry turns to paste.
- Hot milk, poured evenly, then pressed down.
- The blistered top is the point — do not pull it out pale.
Serve It With
Turkish coffee · Karkade · Fresh dates
Leftovers and Storage
Refrigerated for 3 days. Reheat at 180°C / 356°F for 12 minutes. It does not freeze.
Om Ali Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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