We usually come across this word, in the mosque during small Islamic conversations, during lectures from our Teachers or while watching videos and surfing the internet.What is Talbina?It’s an Arabic dish prepared with barley, milk and honey in the porridge form. It was recommended by Prophet Muhammad PBUH to his companions when suffering through an illness or weakness of any kind. There are many Ahadeeth that briefly describe its importance in the life of the Holy Prophet and his companions.
- Barley is the white barley after removing the husk.
- Milk is better if its Cows milk(easier to digest), dairy milk and normal canned milk will also work
- Honey is used as a sweetener as it has medicinal properties being a natural sweetener.
Talbina is easily prepared and could be refrigerated for consumption the next day.
How to cook Talbina?There are various methods all over the internet by which you can prepare Talbina (“although none of them is exactly the same as mentioned in Ahadeeth”- same being my case), I will share an easy method with which you can cook Talbina with ease at home, with fewer chances of the milk getting spoiled. The following being the ingredients and steps involved:
Ingredients:
- 125 grams of white barley washed and soaked overnight in water.
- 500 ml of boiled milk (you can dilute it by 400ml milk and 100ml of water).
- Honey for sweetness.
- Dry-fruits- Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins(black), Cashewnuts(not in-case of old people and those who are allergic).
- Grind the overnight soaked barley along with the stock in a mixer grinder to form a thick paste. NOTE: do not grind it for a longer time if you wish to chew the barley(in fact it feels better that way).
- Take a small pan or cooking vessel and pour the barley paste along with some water and cook on a low flame and keep slowly stirring with an intention to prepare porridge.
- Now slowly add milk in small quantities to the barley and keep stirring it slowly. Please remember the entire 500ml milk has to be mixed with the barley and cooked to form porridge.
- Cooking for 5 minutes on low flame will help to thicken off the porridge and keep the nutrition retained.
- Once done, add honey for sweetness. The more the Honey, The Sweeter it gets. But beware and remember Jalaluddin Rumi’s(R.A) precious words- “All that is more than one’s requirement is poison” So Be cautious with Honey TOO.
- Now add your favourite dry fruits so that they can blend in with the warm porridge and leave it aside for some time to cool down.
- Serve warm at least 300-350 ml to the sick person.
