Meghli

Meghli

Alternative names	Moghli, Meghleh, Karawiya
Course	Dessert
Region or state	Levant
Serving temperature	Cold or warm
Main ingredients	Rice flour, sugar, anise, caraway, cinnamon, coconut, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts

Meghli, moghli, meghleh, (Arabic: مغلي), or karawiyah, is a Levantine dessert based on a floured rice pudding and spiced with anise, caraway, and cinnamon. The dish is often garnished with dried coconut flakes and various nuts including almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, and pistachios.^[1] Meghli is commonly served to celebrate the birth of a child.^[2][3] It is also a popular Christmas dessert in Lebanon as a celebration of the birth of Jesus.^[4]

Name

The name 'meghli' means “boiled” in Arabic, referring to the long time (up to an hour) it must be continuously stirred while boiling.^[5]

Celebrations

The dish was traditionally served to celebrate the birth of a male heir, but has now become a dessert to celebrate any newborn.^[5] The caraway is thought to assist the new mother in lactating^[6]

Meghli is a popular Christmas dessert in Lebanon and among Christians communities throughout the Levant.^[7] Meghli is also symbolic of fertile soil, which is brown like the Meghli.

In Lebanon and Palestine, it is often served cold. In Syria and Jordan, it is commonly called karawiya (the Arabic name for caraway) and more commonly served warm.

See also

• Ashure

References

1. Dalal A. Holmin, From the Tables of Lebanon: Traditional Vegetarian Cuisine, Book Publishing Company (TN); 1 edition (June 1997), pg 164
2. Meghli Archived 2010-02-17 at the Wayback Machine, Arabicnews'com
3. Kamal Mouzawak, Merry Meghli! Archived 2012-07-15 at archive.today, Poetry of Food, poetryoffood.com, retrieved 3-7-2010
4. Larsen, Timothy. The Oxford Handbook of Christmas, Oxford University Press, page 427
5. Anissa Helou, Lebanese Cuisine: More Than 250 Authentic Recipes From The Most Elegant Middle Eastern Cuisine, St. Martin's Griffin (June 15, 1998), pg 241
6. "Meghli, Lebanon's Own Rice Pudding, Welcomes Babies — Including Jesus". NPR. 19 December 2016.
7. Mouzawak, Kamal. Lebanese Home Cooking, Quary Books, page 154