Hawawshi

Ingredients

Bread

• 4rounds of baladi bread

Filling

• 500 gminced beef, about a fifth fat
• 2onions, very finely chopped
• 1sweet pepper, finely chopped
• 2green chillies, minced
• 1 bunchparsley, chopped
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1 tspallspice
• ½ tspcinnamon
• ½ tspground cumin

To finish

• ghee or melted butter, for brushing

To serve

• tahini
• pickles
• lemon

Directions

1. Use minced beef with real fat in it, around a fifth by weight.
2. Lean mince makes a dry hawawshi. The fat renders into the bread as it bakes, and that is what makes the inside soft and rich while the outside crisps.
3. Chop the onion extremely fine, then squeeze it out in a cloth to lose some of its water.
4. Squeeze the onion. Its water is the main cause of a soggy hawawshi, and squeezed onion still gives every bit of the flavour.
5. Mix the meat with the onion, sweet pepper, chillies, parsley, tomato paste and all the spices, and work it together well.
6. Split each bread open along one edge, keeping it hinged, or slit a pocket into the side.
7. Push the meat mixture in and spread it right to the edges in a thin, even layer.
8. Thin and right to the edge. A thick lump in the middle stays raw while the rim burns, and every bite should have meat in it.
9. Press the bread flat with your palm to seal it and push the filling into the corners.
10. Brush both sides with ghee or melted butter.
11. Bake at 220°C (430°F) for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once, until the bread is crisp and browned and the fat has soaked through it.
12. A hot oven throughout. The bread has to crisp before it dries out, and a moderate oven gives a pale leathery sandwich instead.
13. Finish it under the grill for a couple of minutes if you want a blistered top.
14. Cut into wedges and serve hot with tahini, pickles and lemon.
15. It is credited to a Cairo butcher named Hawawshi in 1971, who baked spiced mince inside baladi bread and gave the sandwich his family name.

Technique

• Baladi bread is the Egyptian wholemeal flatbread and it is sturdier than pitta, which matters under this much fat.
• It is best straight from the oven and does not keep at all well.
• Some versions add cheese, which people in Cairo argue about.

Substitutions

• Pitta bread, split open along one side.
• Minced lamb in place of beef, which is common in the south.

Variations

• With mozzarella worked through the filling.
• Alexandrian style, with markedly more chilli.
• Made small, as individual pockets for a party.

History

Ground, spiced meat, stuffed inside Egyptian flatbread called baladi bread, then baked or grilled until the bread turns crisp and the meat cooks through inside, documented across Egypt as a popular street food, particularly associated with Alexandria, where a notably spicier regional version is especially well known. Its technique of baking the meat filling directly inside the bread itself, rather than serving the two components separately, allows the bread to absorb the meat’s juices and fat during cooking while developing a crisp, browned exterior. Hawawshi remains one of Egypt’s most popular street foods and quick meals, widely sold from dedicated hawawshi shops and butchers across the country.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hawawshi?

Hawawshi is a street food from Egypt: baladi bread packed with spiced minced beef, baked crisp. Ground, spiced meat, stuffed inside Egyptian flatbread called baladi bread, then baked or grilled until the bread turns crisp and the meat cooks through inside, documented across Egypt as a popular street food, particularly associated with Alexandria, where a notably spicier regional version is especially well known. Its technique of baking the meat filling directly inside the bread itself, rather than serving the two components separately, allows the bread to absorb the meat’s juices and fat during cooking while developing a crisp, browned exterior. Hawawshi remains one of Egypt’s most popular street foods and quick meals, widely sold from dedicated hawawshi shops and butchers across the country.

How long does Hawawshi take to make?

Hawawshi takes 20 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 sandwiches. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Hawawshi?

Yes, within limits. Pitta bread, split open along one side. Minced lamb in place of beef, which is common in the south.