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Khobz Yafai’i –خبز يافعي

Posted in Appetizers, Breads on February 18, 2014| 22 Comments »

I went to Buffalo/New York and during a Yemeni Sister potluck and forum, I met this amazing bread that a sister by the name of Hannan brought with her. It looked like a “Bint Al Sahn” but it was thicker. There must have been at least 30 layers. And it was crispier. I had my eyes on it the entire afternoon, but sidled up next to it too late. It was wiped clean. Serves me right for talking too much! Well, on my last day in Buffalo Hannan was nice enough to make me one to take home and enjoy with my husband. I prayed to Allah that I wouldn’t lose my luggage and Alhamdullilah it made it home safe. Khaled and enjoyed it with honey, with lots of Duas for Hannan. Here are the pics of it:

Of course, once every crumb was gone Khaled and I yearned for it. So, asked Hannan for her recipe and I made it today. She doesn’t have exact measurements, so I measured as a went along. Here is what you’ll need:

1) 1 cup of warm milk

2) 1 cup of warm water

3) 1 tsp of salt ( or to taste)

4) 4 cups and a 1/2 of white flour (I used Gold Medal all purpose flour)

I kneaded all the ingredient together and made a soft dough. Add more flour or water if you need to make a soft but un-sticky dough. Here is what the dough looks like:

Cover it with plastic wrap and let sit for half an hour:

After half an hour turn this dough into small balls –it’ll make 24 balls of dough comfortably.

Then cover and leave aside for another 30 minutes.

Then with a rolling pin starting opening each one into thin circles, and leave them aside. Make sure you flour the counter so they don’t stick to it or to each other.

Preheat the oven at 500 degrees fahrenheit and place a big circular tray in the oven to heat. Then take another metal circular baking tray and flip it over and oil well. And then start covering the tray with the circles–stretch out the dough so it covers it well. It’ll be a very thin layer.

Oil this first layer well and then continue with the next one and the next one, remembering to oil in between in each layer.

Oil the last one as well. Then take a pair of scissors and cut out the excess dough on the ends like this:

Now you are done and ready to place in the oven. Open up the oven and carefully take the tray that has been heating up inside and carefully flip the layers onto the hot tray. Do this carefully, using your fingers to help the dough along. Close the oven and let it cook. It will puff up beautifully like this:

When it has browned well, then take it out. Let it cool and then serve warm with honey.

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Mutabaqiah Yemeniyah — مطبقية يمنية

Posted in Breads, Yemeni Dishes on March 11, 2013| 46 Comments »

This is one of my favorites. It’s pretty easy to make, although might be time consuming for some. For the dough you will need:

1) 2 cups of flour

2) 1/4 tsp of salt

3) 1 tablespoon of oil [I used sunflower oil]

4) water as kneaded to make a soft and smooth dough

Add the salt to the dough and mix well. Then add the oil and mix in as well. Then gradually add water and knead and unit it is transformed into a smooth and soft dough. Soft means that when you poke it it does not bounce back. Cover the dough and let rest for 30 minutes.

When the dough has rested for 30 minutes, divide it into small balls. This amount should be enough for 12 small balls.

Using a rolling pin, open up the balls into small circles. Try to roll them out into approximately the same size. Place them on a well floured surface. Plan on stacking four on top of each other. Now before you stack them on top of each other, take one of circles and add one tsp of oil onto it. Smear it with a spoon. Then sprinkle a little dough. Then place another circle of dough on top of it. Continue until you have four. DO NOT OIL AND SPRINKLE FLOUR ON THE LAST ONE. Continue with the rest. MAKE SURE YOU COVER THOSE YOU HAVE COMPLETED SO THEY DON’T DRY OUT.Place a flat pan on high heat. The pan has to be very hot.

Now it is time to roll them out. Before you do so press with your fingers around the edges so that they all line up evenly or else you will end up have ones that are shorter than the others. Like this:

Then roll it out pretty thin:

Once you have it all rolled out beautifully, place it carefully on the hot pan. It will start puffing up in a few seconds. Flip on the other side and watch it puff up some more.

The layers will start coming apart. That’s when it is ready. Pull the layers apart with your hands. BE CAREFUL IT IS HOT. Continue until you are done with all the dough you have prepared.

The layers will be nice and thin like this:

Now for the egg mixture to put in between the thin layers that you just made with the dough. You will need:

1) 2-3 eggs

2) 4 green onions, finely chopped

3) a handful of cilantro finely chopped

4) green chilly pepper finely chopped –to taste. This will make it a little spicy.

5) salt to taste

Mix all these ingredients well together:

Now oil the pan with about a tsp of oil, then take one of the layers of the prepared dough and place it on top. Then oil the layer and spread some of the egg mixture on top:

Place a second layer on top:

Cook on both sides until well browned. [If you would like to use more eggs in between you may, but just make sure it is cooked well. Leave it a little longer that is. If you would like to make sure the egg is cooked, you can pierce the dough with a fork and if egg does not ooze out then it is cooked]. Serve hot with Yemeni tea. Enjoy!

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