Malawach – Yemeni pan bread
Malawach is a particularly crispy pan bread because it has several layers, similar to puff pastry. I really like crispy things, so I couldn’t resist trying this recipe. It takes a little time to prepare, but the effort is worth it because you are rewarded with pure indulgence.
Where does pan bread come from?
Malawach or malawah is a multi-layered bread that is prepared with lots of butter or ghee and fried in a pan. This makes it nice and crispy and it can also be eaten on its own.
Yemeni Jews brought the recipe to Israel and established the pan-fried bread there.
In the Arab world, there are many variations that have similar names and are prepared in a similar way, such as Iraqi kahi or Moroccan meloui.
You can now find malawach in the freezer section of every Arab supermarket. You don’t even need to defrost it, but can put the bread straight into the pan and fry until crispy. But homemade tastes much better, of course.
Just a handful of ingredients …
And you certainly have them in your store cupboard. After all, flour, water, butter and salt are all part of a well-organized pantry. If you don’t have any black cumin seeds, you can leave them out.
By the way, you can replace the butter with ghee – it adds more flavor and is actually used in the traditional recipe. I just didn’t have any on hand.
Would you like to make the dough vegan? Then simply replace the butter or ghee with margarine. This works just as well.
- Wheat flour
- Water
- Salt
- Butter (or ghee)
- Black cumin seeds
Time makes good dough
The preparation of the breads reminded me of my first cookbook, because I made a similar recipe there: Tahinov Hatz. These are sugared tahini buns with hazelnuts, which also have several layers of dough and are therefore super crispy like puff pastry.
For the fine and crispy layers, the dough is kneaded, rolled flat, twisted and rolled flat again. This is also how malawach is prepared to give the flatbread its crispy texture.
But first, of course, you need to prepare the dough. And if you have a little more time to prepare the mala wax, give the dough longer to rest. The resting time allows the dough to relax, it can be rolled out better and the pastry will be nice and fluffy.
Brief instructions for preparing malawach (you will find the exact instructions below in the recipe card):
- Mix the flour with the salt, add the water and knead the ingredients into a dough.
- Cover the dough and leave to rest.
- Cut the dough into several pieces and roll out each piece as thinly as possible on a floured surface.
- Spread melted butter on the dough and sprinkle with black cumin seeds.
- Carefully roll up the dough from the bottom.
- Shape the dough roll into a snail.
- Flatten the dough snail with your hands or a rolling pin and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Heat a frying pan and fry the flattened dough snails over a medium heat for approx. 2-3 minutes on each side until crispy.
- Malawach is best enjoyed while still warm.
Tips for preparation
- Oil your work surface with olive oil or another vegetable oil. This will allow you to stretch the dough particularly thinly and prevent it from sticking.
- Pull the dough apart carefully, otherwise it will become holey. As you can see from the photos, I was too impatient!
- If there are too many at once, you can also freeze a few flat rolled dough pieces. They will keep in the freezer for approx. 6 months if they are packed airtight.
Malawach variations
If you are not yet sure whether you want to eat the pan bread sweet or savory later, use a little less salt and leave out the black cumin seeds.
- Instead of black cumin seeds, you can also use sesame seeds or pine nuts.
- For more spice, you can try some malawach with dukkah, za’atar or sumac.
- But any bread is also a delight with fried spring onions or caramelized onions.
Since you have a few dough pieces, you can simply try out one or two variations.
How is malawach served?
Traditionally, the pan-fried bread is served with boiled eggs, spicy zhug and matbucha or sliced tomatoes. However, you can also serve it as a sweet version with honey and ghee.
You’re sure to have the ingredients for the crispy bread in the house – so why not start baking straight away!
I hope you enjoy it and, of course, bon appétit.
Recipe for Malawach
Equipment
- Kitchen machine
Ingredients
For the batter
- 500 g Wheat flour type 550
- 300 ml Water
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 80 g Butter
- 2 Tablespoon Black cumin seeds
To serve
Zubereitung
- Mix the flour with the salt.
- Add the water and knead the ingredients into a dough.
- Knead the dough for 5 minutes with a food processor on medium speed.
- Shape the dough into a ball, cover with a towel and leave to rest for 60 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll out each of these pieces as thinly as possible with a rolling pin on a floured or oiled work surface. Spread melted butter over the dough and sprinkle with black cumin seeds.
- Carefully roll up the dough from the bottom and shape the dough roll into a snail.
- Flatten the dough snail with your hands or a rolling pin and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Heat a frying pan and fry the flattened dough snails over a medium heat for approx. 2-3 minutes on each side until crispy.
- Serve Malawach with Zhug, for example.
Notes
Nährwerte
Would you like to try more Levantine breads? Then try baking this delicious sesame bread or my homemade focaccia with za’atar.
