Gulf Ramadan dessert · 30 minutes
Umm Ali Recipe (Pastry Milk Pudding with Nuts)
Bake the pastry crisp. Hot milk over. Grill the top.
Recipe by Farwa ZeeshanTested in the NineFoods home kitchenUmm Ali is a warm pudding of crisp pastry, nuts and raisins soaked in sweet milk and grilled until golden, served in Ramadan from Egypt to Kuwait. It goes soggy when the pastry is not baked crisp first. The fix is baking the pastry until deep golden, pouring the milk just before baking, and finishing under a hot grill.
The 3 laws of umm ali
Why this recipe works
Raw pastry
Holds texture in the milk.
Soak early
Not mushy.
Bake only
Golden, bubbly crust.
Shopping and prep list
Ingredients
Umm Ali
The NineFoods umm ali gauge
Is the top ready?
Look under the grill.
Method · 3 stages
Step by step
Bake pastry
- Bake pastry until deep golden; cool and break into pieces.
Assemble
- Layer pastry with nuts, raisins and coconut.
- Heat milk with sugar and cardamom; pour over and top with cream.
Grill
- Grill until golden and bubbling. Use the gauge above.
Chef's troubleshooter
What went wrong? Pick the symptom
Why
Pastry not crisp.
Fix next time
Bake until deep golden.
Why
Extra sugar.
Fix next time
Use less sugar.
Why
Too little milk.
Fix next time
Pour enough to almost cover.
Why
No grill.
Fix next time
Finish under a hot grill.
Swap smart
Ingredient roles and substitutes
| Ingredient | Job in the dish | Swap with |
|---|---|---|
| Puff pastry | Base | Croissants or filo |
| Cream | Richness | Condensed milk |
| Mixed nuts | Crunch | Almonds only |
| Raisins | Sweetness | Chopped dates |
After the meal
Serve, store, reheat
Serve with
Hot, straight from the oven.
Store
Fridge 2 days.
Reheat
Oven 180 C, 10 minutes.
How we tested this recipe
Tested in a home kitchen, not a studio
Recipe developed and tested by Farwa Zeeshan, who cooks and tests every NineFoods recipe on a regular home stove.
- Cooked from start to finish with the exact quantities above for 6 servings, using both the metric and US cup measures.
- Every one of the 3 stages was timed at the stove; heat levels and the 'look for' cues are what we saw in the pan.
- The doneness check (is the top ready) and the troubleshooter come from batches that went wrong, and how we fixed them.
- Reheating and storage advice was checked on leftovers, not guessed.
Keep cooking
Related recipes and guides
Quick answers
Umm Ali FAQ
What is umm ali?
A warm Arabic pudding of pastry, milk and nuts.
What does umm ali mean?
Mother of Ali.
Can I use croissants?
Yes, they make a rich umm ali.
Hot or cold?
Serve it hot.