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Booza
Booza bi haleeb: Damascus-style stretchy milk ice cream with mastic and pistachios, home version
In the covered Hamidiyeh souk in Damascus, men pound booza in frozen metal drums with long wooden pestles, and the thump of the mallets is part of the show. The ice cream is milky, chewy and elastic, thanks to sahlab (orchid-root flour) and mastic, then rolled in crushed pistachios. This home version thickens the milk with sahlab powder or cornflour and beats it as it freezes to get that stretch. Serve in scoops or slices, plain or with a spoon of rose syrup. Common mistake: grinding the mastic alone, which turns gummy; always pound it with a spoonful of sugar. Chef's tip: real sahlab gives the true chew, but a mix of cornflour and a pinch of guar gum gets very close.
- Total time
- 35 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
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What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (2)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Grind ½ tsp mastic with 1 tsp sugar in a mortar to a fine powder.
Step 2: Whisk 3 tbsp sahlab powder or cornflour and 6 ½ oz sugar into 3 ¾ cups whole milk in a saucepan until smooth. Bring slowly to a simmer over a medium heat, whisking constantly, and cook for 8–10 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon thickly.
10 minStep 3: Whisk in the mastic powder for 1 minute until dissolved, then stir in ¾ cup double cream and 1 tsp rose water. Cool, then chill for 2 hours.
120 minStep 4: Churn in an ice-cream machine until thick. Or freeze in a shallow box, beating hard with an electric whisk every 45 minutes, 4 times, to stretch it and stop crystals forming.
180 minStep 5: Spread 3 ½ oz pistachios in a loaf tin lined with cling film, pack the ice cream on top, press more pistachios over and freeze until firm, about 3 hours.
180 minStep 6: Soften for 10 minutes at room temperature, then turn out and cut into thick slices.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 35 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does booza take?
- About 35 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of whole milk?
- Semi-skimmed milk with 1 tbsp cream per 240ml (1 cup).
- What can I use instead of double cream?
- Whipping cream, same amount (less rich; whips softer).
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