Lahoh

Ingredients

Batter

• 300 gplain flour
• 100 gsorghum or millet flour
• 1 tspinstant yeast
• 1 tspsugar
• 1 tspsalt
• 600 mlwarm water

To serve

• honey
• ghee or samn
• hilbeh
• goat stew or maraq

Directions

1. Whisk the flours, yeast, sugar and salt with the warm water into a thin, smooth batter, about the consistency of single cream.
2. Keep it thin. Lahoh is poured, not spread, and a thick batter gives a dense pancake with no holes.
3. Cover and leave it at room temperature for 8 hours, or overnight. It is ready when the surface is covered in bubbles and it smells pleasantly sour.
4. Stir it very gently before cooking, just enough to even it out. Do not beat it down.
5. Heat a heavy flat pan over a medium heat, ungreased or barely wiped with oil.
6. Pour a ladleful into the centre and let it spread on its own into a round, tilting the pan only slightly. Now the part that defines it: cook it on one side only, uncovered, and do not turn it.
7. Stack them under a cloth as you go. Serve with honey and ghee for breakfast, or torn and used to scoop a goat stew.

Technique

• The pale, hole-covered upper surface is the whole point, and the underside should be smooth and barely browned.
• Sorghum or millet in the mix is traditional and gives a fuller flavour than plain wheat.
• Keeping a cup of old batter to start the next batch, as a sourdough, is common and improves it.

Substitutions

• All plain flour, which works and tastes plainer.
• A cup of reserved batter in place of yeast, for a natural ferment.

Variations

• Canjeero, the Somali version, usually thinner.
• With an egg cracked onto the batter as it cooks.
• Served with hilbeh and a hot stew rather than honey.

History

Fermented sorghum or flour pancake shared with Somalia and Yemen, cooked on one side only so the holes stay open to soak stew.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lahoh?

Lahoh is a breakfast from Djibouti: spongy fermented pancake eaten with honey, ghee or stew. Fermented sorghum or flour pancake shared with Somalia and Yemen, cooked on one side only so the holes stay open to soak stew.

How long does Lahoh take to make?

Lahoh takes 15 min plus 8 hr fermenting of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 pancakes. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Lahoh?

Yes, within limits. All plain flour, which works and tastes plainer. A cup of reserved batter in place of yeast, for a natural ferment.

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

Stir it very gently before cooking, just enough to even it out. Do not beat it down.