ḥibr

Ingredients

gall nuts, good gum, water

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Two and a half dirham of good gall nuts and the same amount of good gum are pulverized in a mortar. Twenty-five dirham of water are poured on it and it is rubbed until it is good and pure (p. 134).

Evidence

"When I replicated this recipe, the colour of the ink was pale yellow and the writing on the paper almost invisible."

Remarks

The author argues that this is actually an incomplete recipe for an instant iron gall ink. Due to mechanical errors of omission in the textual transmission, the mention of vitriol was lost, leaving only the plant components (p. 136). Testing on parchment by Schopen resulted in a light yellow-brown color (p. 135).