Sahlep, Salep, Sahlab

Submitted by Artandkitchen

"Sahlep is a delicious creamy Turkish drink. I found sahlep powder in a Turkish shop, that I bough without knowing what it was. In the internet (http://morselsandmusings.blogspot.com/2006/08/sahlep-salep-sahlab.html) I found the explanations and this delicious ancient recipe. Sahlep, a Turkish winter drink, is made from the dried powdered roots of a mountain orchid. The powder is then heated with milk, sugar and cinnamon to make a thick dairy beverage. In modern day Turkey, sahlep is used to cure sore throats and coughs and is only served during the cold months."

 

• Ready In: 5mins
• Ingredients: 5
• Serves: 2

ingredients

• 1 teaspoon instant tea, sahlep powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 1 1⁄2 cups milk
• 1 pinch cinnamon, for dusting

directions

1. Place all ingredients in a saucepan.
2. Boil, whisking continuously, for 2 – 3 minutes.
3. Pour into two cups.
4. dust with cinnamon.
5. enjoy.

Reviews

[UmmBinat]

This is a different and fun drink :) It grew on me with each sip. I had to change it somewhat to fit our diet of dairy free, so I used recipe#418642 which is creamy. It was good and I do use almond milk as a sub often. I'm not sure why it says instant tea, I think it should only say salep powder from looking at other recipes on Google. I wonder if this recipe is calling for real salep powder or the salep drink mix. Reading online, I understand it is hard or maybe impossible to find real salep powder outside of Turkey, so since I do not reside in Turkey and I imagine with regards to what I read online the fake stuff would probably contain corn starch I used potato starch and added a splash of Iranian rose water (Iranian part being my preference) after heating since I also understand the powder to be aromatic like a flower and lightly taste of a flower. I followed the rest! Made for Veggie Swap 31 ~ February 2011.

 

[ada.sabin]

I just came from a trip to Istanbul. Real Salep (it is not Sahlep) is very expansive. It is 750Turkish Lira which is $250 per kilo. But it is delicious. The Salep mix you buy does not contain any salep. Boy it is so delicious. My husband thought I was nuts when I told him I was going to buy a real Salep and it was $250 per kilo. $125 per pound. He asked me to make it again. You do not use a lot. But you can tell the difference.

 

[Elmotoo]

Ahhh...comforting! I *finally* made this! I've been looking at it for years, lol. I did some googling since I've not been able to find sahlep powder. So, I used 2T cornstarch for 2c milk. I did double the sugar, as per personal preference. I added about 1/2 tsp orange flower water, 2 wee drops of coconut extract (does sahlep taste a bit coconutty?) The end result was creamy - the cornstarch didn't turn it into pudding! - and delicious! I shared it with my daughter who is also very happy now. Be careful when heating milk....nothing, nothing, nothing, BOIL OVER! (I did catch it in time). Made for NA/ME Tag Winter '14.

 

[COOKGIRl]

I'm not going to star rate this because I used green tea powder (from Asian market.) I liked it! Very different. Tried locating sahlep in town but to no avail. Reviewed for NA*ME tag/February.

 

[Debbwl]

What a relaxing and soothing tea! I made using instant tea powder although it was not sahlep powder, but it was still very good and we really liked the cinnamon combined with warm milk. Thanks for the post.