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สูตรอาหาร · อ่าน 3 นาที

Riz bi Haleeb (Rice Pudding)

ขนมข้าวต้มนมสไตล์ลิแวนต์กับยางมาสติกและน้ำดอกส้ม (ของหวาน)

رز بحليب

Meloso · ข้นนุ่ม ภาชนะที่ใช้ หม้อทองแดง ซีเรียเลบานอนปาเลสไตน์ แหล่งอ้างอิง (5)

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01Geographic & Texture Profile

  • Primary Geographic Zone: Aleppo and Damascus; the same family of milk puddings is made across Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan.
  • Liquid & Texture Profile: Meloso (creamy): a spoonable pudding, set by chilling. This is a dessert.
  • Traditional Cooking Vessel & Fuel: A heavy-bottomed pot on low heat (stirred), then individual bowls chilled.

02Historical & Cultural Context

Riz bi haleeb ("rice with milk") is the Levant's everyday dessert, and the direct cousin of the Spanish and Valencian arroz con leche / arròs amb llet. Both descend from the medieval Arab-Mediterranean love of rice cooked in milk with sugar. Where Spain flavours it with cinnamon and lemon peel, al-Sham perfumes it with orange-blossom or rose water and often mastic (mistka), the resin of the Chios mastic tree. Its aroma is resinous, and it gives the pudding a slight stretch. Crushed pistachios on top are standard.

Aleppo adds a celebrated layered version, roz bi-haleeb mbattan ("lined" rice-milk pudding). A creamy rice-and-milk base is chilled and then topped with a set orange-juice layer. It is published in Marlene Matar's The Aleppo Cookbook, a collection of recipes from Aleppian families, restaurants and chefs.

Culinary science: short-grain rice (Egyptian or calrose; arborio works) releases amylopectin and thickens the milk as it cooks. Most cooks stop when the pudding has the consistency of béchamel, because it sets considerably when chilled. Mastic must be pounded with a pinch of sugar before it goes in, or it clumps. The flower waters go in off the heat, because their aroma is volatile. Cornflour in the Aleppo mbattan gives the clean set needed to carry the second layer.

03Local Town-by-Town Variations

  • Damascus / Syrian standard: Egyptian short-grain rice, full-fat milk, sugar, mastic + orange-blossom water; pistachios.
  • Aleppo — mbattan: Rice-milk base thickened with cornflour, then a layer of orange juice and zest set with cornflour; almonds or pistachios.
  • Lebanon: Often rose water and/or orange-blossom water; mastic optional; cooked on the stovetop to béchamel thickness.
  • Palestine (aruz bil-halib): Similar flavourings; frequently topped with cinnamon as well as nuts.
  • Without mastic or flower water: Some cooks use vanilla, converging with Western rice pudding.

04The Master Recipe (4-Person Batch Blueprint)

Variant represented: Syrian mastic and orange-blossom, scaled from a published Syrian recipe (2 L milk : 170 g rice : 170 g sugar : 1 g mastic).

The Flavor Base (El Fondo)

Ingredient Quantity
Full-fat milk 1 L
Sugar 85 g
Mastic tears, pounded with 1 tsp sugar 0.5 g
Orange-blossom water (or rose water) 1 tbsp
Pinch of salt —
Crushed pistachios, to finish 30 g

Assembly Ratios

Element Quantity
Short-grain rice (Egyptian/calrose), rinsed 85 g
Water to pre-cook rice 250 ml
Milk : rice ≈ 12 : 1 by weight

Step-by-Step Cooking Blueprint

  1. Pre-cook: Simmer the rice in the water, covered, until it is absorbed (12–15 min).
  2. Milk: Add the milk and bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring often (especially across the bottom), for 30–40 min until it is thick like béchamel.
  3. Sweeten: Add the sugar and the pounded mastic and stir 5 min more, until dissolved.
  4. Perfume: Off the heat, stir in the orange-blossom water.
  5. Set: Pour into bowls, cool, then chill 3–4 h.
  6. Serve: Top with pistachios. [Aleppo mbattan: once set, pour over a cooled orange layer (600 ml juice + zest + 100 g sugar + 30 g cornflour, boiled until thick) and chill again.]