Amareldine Matboukh

Name: Amareldine Matboukh
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients: 1 pound dried natural unsweetened apricots; 3 cups water; 1 tablespoon orange-blossom or rose water, or to taste; Juice of 1/2 lemon; 1–2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste; 1/2–3/4 cup coarsely chopped pistachios or almonds; 1 cup whipped heavy cream or yogurt to serve with

December 9, 2011

Another Ramadan specialty in Egypt is a cream made of sheets of dried pressed apricots (amareldine) soaked, then boiled in water. I was in Cairo during the Ramadan month a few years ago and saw hundreds of bowls of this tart-tasting fruit cream offered free at street parties. The sheets of amareldine available these days do not have the pure taste they once had—perhaps due to preservatives. It is better to use natural dried apricots. Pistachios or almonds and thick cream are optional embellishments. Sometimes cornstarch is used to give the cream the texture of jelly. For this, see the variation.

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