Om Aly

"Om Aly" or Ali's Mother. A dessert goes back to the Ayyubid Dynasty, Named after her son Ali, as women where being called after their son's name during this time. When Ali's Mother learned that her husband, who was then the Egypt Mamluk Sultan, has been killed by his second wife "Shagarit El Dor" in order to take his place in ruling Egypt. Ali's Mother decided to take revenge by killing her for killing her husband, and her son's father. She then celebrated this by preparing a meal of dry bread and milk, and doled it out. The People instantly named the dish after her name; and since then, though the dish has taken a different twist, its still called and refered to as Om Ali.

Ingredients: 

* A pack of squared Puff Pastry, or dry bread aka "Roqaq" or Philo pastry 

* 1 Litre whole milk, and add to it : 1/4 Tsp Cardamom - 1 Tsp cinnamon - 1 Tbsp Water blossoms  - 4 Mastic  - 1/2 Cup soft butter  - 1 Cup Honey or sugar.

* 1/2 Cup Almonds 

* 1/2 Cup Hazelnuts 

* 1/2 Cup Pistachios 

* 1/2 Cup Sultans 

* 1/2 Cup shredded coconut 

* 1 Tbsp Fresh sour cream

* Mohamady Flowers for Garnish 

Method: 

First, choose which pastry you will use in your Om Aly. You can give yourself a generous chance to try the three methods since every pastry adds a different taste with different texture, to determine which one you and your family will prefer. 

For me, the Philo pastry is light in taste, and milky in texture. The puff pastry, rich in taste, but absorbed nearly all the milk (so make it 1 litre and a half,) and the roqaq was also rich in taste and did not absorbe much milk, there was still milk in the tajin,

So that is for you to decide, which taste and texture you prefer.

Preheaat the oven to 180*c

* For the puff pastry, brush the pastry with melted butter as shown in the video, insert it to a preheated oven with fan on (if your oven supports one) until lightly golden. Meanwhile, crush the nuts and mix them together. In a saucepan add the milk with its flavourings, and bring to a boil. In a serving oven tajin, crush 2-3 pastries in the bottom, and pour some of the hot milk, sprinkle some of the nuts mix, and repeat the steps, pastry, milk , nuts, until you reach the top of the tajin. Spraed pieces of fresh cream. Put the tajin on an oven tray and insert it to a preheated oven with fan on. After 20 - 30 minutes you will know is ready when the freash cream has melted,  and the top has turned light golden and can clearly smell it. Garnish with Mohamady dried flowers 

* If using philo pastry, keep the pastry rolled like it is, and cut to slices. In a bowl hold each slice up to release it from its fold, pour a generous amount of melted butter (about one cup) and stir well with your finger tips to allow the butter to coat all the pastry. Transfer to a preheated oven stirring frequently until lightly browned. In a serving oven dish, put some philo in bottom, pour the hot milk, then the nuts, and repeat the same steps mentioned in the previous point.

* As for the roqaq, its ready for using right away. Just crush it in your serving oven tajin, pour the hot milk, sprinkle some nuts, and repeat the steps like mention in the first point.

NOTE, that you can have some sweetened hot milk ready aside while serving for those who like it soft and milky with extra milk.

Serve it hot, and

Enjoy it all year long as a dessert, not only during Ramadan.

Enjoy Doing It , And

LOVE & ENJOY WHAT YOU DO..