Persian almond-milk jelly recipe

Serves 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus cooling and several hours chilling to set

Cooking time: about 10 minutes

 

Ingredients for Persian almond-milk jelly

2 cups (500 ml) low-fat milk

2 teaspoons powdered gelatine

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon pure almond essence

 

Fruit salad

3 oranges

1/4 cup (55 g) caster sugar

2 cardamom pods, very lightly crushed

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon orange-flower water, or more to taste

2 bananas

1/2 pomegranate

 

Preparation for Persian almond-milk jelly

1 Pour 150 ml of the milk into a saucepan. Sprinkle over the gelatine and leave to sponge for 5 minutes without stirring.

 

2 Stir in the sugar and set the pan over a low heat. Cook gently, without boiling, until the sugar and gelatine have completely dissolved, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and add the remaining milk and the almond essence. Stir to mix. Pour into four 175 ml decorative jelly moulds. Cover and chill for several hours, or until set.

 

3 Meanwhile, peel the zest thinly from 1 orange and cut into thin strips. Squeeze the juice from the orange into a saucepan and add the zest, the sugar, cardamom pods and 150 ml of water. Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Boil for 5–10 minutes, or until reduced and syrupy. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and orange-flower water. Leave to cool.

 

4 Peel the remaining 2 oranges, removing all the white pith, and cut across into slices. Peel and slice the bananas. Scoop out the seeds from the pomegranate half. Combine the fruit in a bowl and pour on the syrup.

 

5 Turn out the jellies onto individual plates. Surround with fruit salad and serve immediately.

 

Each serving provides 837 kJ, 200 kcal, 8 g protein, 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 39 g carbohydrate (38 g sugars), 3 g fibre

 

 

Health tip

Milk jellies were a popular dessert in the Victorian era and a regular feature of children’s meals, because nannies recognised that the calcium provided by milk is particularly important for growing children to build strong bones.