Um Ali
Um Ali
Um Ali – true comfort food
Um Ali is true comfort food, flaky buttery pastry in a rich and creamy sauce, embellished with nuts, dried fruit and coconut.
The origins of Um Ali
Um Ali translated from Arabic means Ali’s mother. In Egypt parenthood changes your significance for ever. From that point onwards you are no longer called by your own name, instead you become known and referred to as the parent of your first born child (son or daughter). In my case, no one in Egypt ever calls me Susan any more ( well apart from my husband, and my sisters), everyone calls me Um Amir; Um (mother of) Amir (my eldest son). I therefore assumed for years that this recipe was created by a lady known as Um Ali (mother of Ali) – I imagined her to be a homely old lady known for her fabulous home cooking – similar to Mrs Beeton (it turns out she wasn’t a fabulous cook either but that’s a completely different story) or Mrs Bridges, out of ‘Upstairs and Downstairs.’
Instead I was told that she was a high ranking woman who had this made and distributed throughout the area to celebrate the death one of her rivals. Not quite the story I had had in my head.
More recently an alternative story emerged stating that it was in fact created by a completely different character whose surname was in fact O’Mally. She was a red headed Irish temptress and the mistress of one of the khalifas of Egypt, who created this dish one day as a result of a craving for a sweet treat from her homeland; bread and butter pudding.
You choose which fruit and nuts you prefer
Traditional Um Ali has a mix of dried fruit, coconut and nuts in it. The fruit used in this recipe is dried apricots. Sultanas are another alternative which is frequently used and which you could substitute in if you chose. To complement this a little of the sugar, which would normally be used, has been replaced with apricot jam, which emphasises the use of the fruit perfectly .
In this recipe the sauce is enriched using a little cream and egg with the milk, to make an even richer sauce than the average Um Ali, making it extra special. We love it made this way. If you are a traditionalist, however, you are welcome to revert to the old ways.
Ingredients
- 1 pack Ready-Rolled puff pastry
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups double cream
- 1 egg – beaten
- ¾ cup sugar – plus a little to sprinkle
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp apricot jam
- ¼ cup dried apricot – chopped
- ½ cup slithered almonds
- ¼ cup desiccated coconut
Method – Let’s make Um Ali
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C
First bake the pastry
Unroll the puff pastry sheets, and lay it on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven until it puffs up and becomes golden brown.
Allow the pastry to cool slightly and then spread the apricot jam over it.
Toast the coconut
Heat a dry (no oil added) frying pan over a high flame. When the pan is hot put the coconut in it and toast it for a few minutes, until it begins to brown slightly.
Break the pastry up & add fruit and nuts
Break the puff pastry into pieces and put them in a large oblong pyrex dish or other oven-proof dish about 20cm x 30cm for baking.
Sprinkle over the chopped apricots, nuts and toasted coconut. Toss them together slightly to mix them evenly.
*Take care not to do this too vigorously otherwise all the fruit and nuts will drop to the bottom of the dish.
Pour over the creamy mix
Mix the milk, cream, egg and sugar together in a bowl.
Pour the milk mix over the pastry mix in the baking dish & sprinkle a little sugar over the top.
Bake your Um Ali
Bake for about 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the liquid has thickened, the top has browned a little and the sugar sprinkling has crisped up.
Remove your glorious Um Ali from the oven and allow it to stand for 10 minutes before serving. I firmly believe it’s better warm than hot – the flavours shine through much better.
Enjoy
Fancy Um Ali but short on time?
If you’d like to make Um Ali in super quick time, you could follow James Martin’s idea for making bread and butter pudding and try using croissants instead of spending extra time baking puff pastry.
Although this recipe doesn’t fully follow the traditional way of making Um Ali I do hope you’ll try it.
And I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.
Let me know what you think