Jachnun

Ingredients

Dough

• 700 gplain flour
• 2 tspsalt
• 2 tbspsugar
• 1 tspbaking powder
• 450 mlwarm water

To laminate

• 300 gsamneh or clarified butter, soft

Pot

• 8eggs, in their shells
• a little honey or date syrup

To serve

• grated fresh tomato
• zhug
• salt

Directions

1. Make a soft dough with the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and warm water, and knead it 10 minutes until smooth.
2. Divide it into eight, oil each ball, and rest them covered for 30 minutes.
3. On a well-oiled surface, flatten one ball and stretch it outward with your palms until it is paper thin and you can see the counter through it.
4. Stretch rather than roll, and stretch it further than feels safe. The layers are everything, and a thick sheet gives you bread instead of jachnun.
5. Smear the whole sheet generously with soft samneh.
6. Fold the sheet into a strip, smear again, then roll it up loosely from one end into a snail.
7. Roll it loosely. Wound tight, the layers fuse into a solid mass instead of separating as they bake.
8. Pack the rolls into a heavy pot, seam side down and touching each other.
9. Trickle a little honey or date syrup over them, which is what gives the deep colour.
10. Sit the whole eggs on top of the rolls, in their shells.
11. Cover with baking paper, then the lid, and seal the rim with foil if the lid is loose.
12. Seal it properly. The entire method is trapped steam over many hours, and a pot that vents dries out and browns instead of baking soft.
13. Bake at 100°C (215°F) for 10 to 12 hours, or overnight.
14. Very low and very long. It goes into the oven before Shabbat begins and comes out for breakfast, which is the whole reason the dish is cooked this way.
15. The rolls turn deep golden brown and pull apart in soft strands; the eggs turn beige and creamy right through.
16. Serve hot, each roll with its brown egg, grated raw tomato and zhug.
17. Grate the tomato rather than chopping it, on the coarse side of a box grater, discarding the skin left in your hand.

Technique

• The brown eggs are haminados, cooked so slowly the whites turn colour and the yolks go dense and creamy.
• It is Yemenite Jewish Shabbat morning food, and the overnight bake exists because cooking is not done on Shabbat itself.
• Frozen jachnun is sold in every Israeli supermarket and is what most households actually use.

Substitutions

• Butter or margarine in place of samneh.
• A slow cooker on low overnight, which works well.

Variations

• Kubaneh, the related pull-apart bread, baked the same way but shaped differently.
• With more honey for a sweeter, darker roll.
• Served with a hard-boiled egg if you have not cooked them in the pot.

History

Yemenite Jewish rolled dough baked overnight for Shabbat morning, served with grated tomato, zhug and a brown egg.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jachnun?

Jachnun is a breakfast from Israel: yemenite rolled dough baked overnight, with grated tomato, zhug and egg. Yemenite Jewish rolled dough baked overnight for Shabbat morning, served with grated tomato, zhug and a brown egg.

How long does Jachnun take to make?

Jachnun takes 45 min plus 30 min resting of preparation and 10 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 8 rolls. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Jachnun?

Yes, within limits. Butter or margarine in place of samneh. A slow cooker on low overnight, which works well.

What is the most important thing to get right in Jachnun?

Stretch rather than roll, and stretch it further than feels safe. The layers are everything, and a thick sheet gives you bread instead of jachnun.