Malawach

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspsugar
• 300 mlwarm water
• 2 tbspoil

Layering

• 250 gsoftened butter, or samneh

To serve

• 3tomatoes, grated
• zhug, green chilli and coriander relish
• hard-boiled eggs
• grated hard-boiled egg or hilbeh, fenugreek relish

Directions

1. Make a soft dough with the flour, salt, sugar, water and oil, and knead it 10 minutes until smooth and stretchy. Knead it well and then rest it properly. Malawach depends on the dough stretching thin enough to read through, and under-worked dough tears the moment you pull it. Divide into six balls, coat them in oil, cover, and rest at least 1 hour, or two.
2. Oil the balls and let them rest fully relaxed. On a large oiled surface, flatten one ball and stretch it outward with oiled palms, working from the centre and letting gravity help, until it is a huge, almost transparent sheet.
3. Spread the sheet generously with softened butter, right to the edges. Use far more butter than feels sensible. The butter is what separates the layers into leaves, and a thin scrape gives you a flatbread rather than malawach.
4. Set the coils on a tray, cover, and rest them 30 minutes, or chill them overnight. Flatten each coil gently with your palm and then a rolling pin into a round about 20 cm across. Press gently.
5. Cook in a dry heavy pan over a medium heat, 4 to 5 minutes a side, until deep golden with dark blistered spots. There is enough butter inside, and added fat fries the outside before the middle cooks.
6. Keep the heat moderate and give it time. It is done when it feels light and you can hear it crackle as you press it. Serve straight from the pan with grated tomato, zhug and a hard-boiled egg, which is the fixed Yemenite Jewish accompaniment.
7. Tear it rather than cutting it, so you can see the layers come apart. Jachnun is the related dough, but it is rolled and baked slowly overnight for Shabbat rather than pan-fried, and the two should not be confused.

Technique

• Samneh, clarified butter, is traditional and gives a distinctly different flavour to plain butter.
• The coils freeze extremely well and are cooked from frozen.
• Hilbeh, whipped fenugreek relish, is the other classic accompaniment alongside zhug.

Substitutions

• Margarine or ghee in place of butter.
• Ready-made frozen malawach, which is genuinely good.

Variations

• Jachnun, the slow-baked Shabbat version.
• Filled with cheese or potato before the final flattening.
• Served sweet, with honey.

History

Yemenite flaky pan-fried bread laminated with fat; frozen versions turned it into a national convenience food.

Frequently asked questions

What is Malawach?

Malawach is a bread & pastry from Israel: flaky fried Yemenite flatbread with honey or savory dips. Yemenite flaky pan-fried bread laminated with fat; frozen versions turned it into a national convenience food.

How long does Malawach take to make?

Malawach takes 40 min plus 2 hr resting of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 pieces. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Malawach?

Yes, within limits. Margarine or ghee in place of butter. Ready-made frozen malawach, which is genuinely good.

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

Spread the sheet generously with softened butter, right to the edges. Use far more butter than feels sensible. The butter is what separates the layers into leaves, and a thin scrape gives you a flatbread rather than malawach.