Malawach is an easy-to-make, delicious, flaky fried Yemeni-Jewish flatbread. Serve with fresh tomatoes, cheese and eggs for a fabulous breakfast or brunch.
I think I was in my late teens when I first ate malawach on a trip to Israel. It’s a flaky, savoury fried Yemeni-Jewish flatbread, that usually comes served with chopped or grated fresh tomatoes, grated cheese, and schug – a potent fresh chilli sauce. Sometimes you also get hard boiled egg and various other accompaniments. To be honest, the malawach itself is the star – crispy, rich, flaky fried dough that despite having just a few ingredients is just so delicious!
Yemeni traditions
The vast majority of Yemen’s Jewish population were moved to Israel in 1949-1950, following waves of persecution in Yemen. They have unique customs, practices and of course foods, many of which have been preserved by the community in Israel. Several of their traditional dishes and seasonings have made their way into the mainstream of Israeli cuisine, among them malawach, jachnun – a similar dough slow-cooked overnight and eaten on Shabbat, and the delicious hawaiij spice blends (more information and recipes to use the savoury one here, and the sweet one here).
Delicious memories
I haven’t eaten malawach for years, and I’ve no idea what made me suddenly crave it, but the other day I had a yearning for the stuff, and such urges must be obeyed. DH was out for the evening, so Kipper and I had a go at making malawach for dinner. We had ours with a chopped Israeli salad, cheese, egg, avocado, and schug. YUM!
Every recipe I’ve ever seen for malawach uses margarine, although I can’t imagine that that’s very traditional! I assume it’s used to keep it parve, although since malawach is usually served with grated cheese, you have to wonder why they bother. The wonderful Encyclopedia of Jewish Food
suggests that originally clarified butter – samneh – was used, although oil could be substituted to make the flatbreads parve.
Ingredients for Malawach
Malawach is made from only a few basic ingredients and is surprisingly simple to make. To prepare the malawach dough, all you will need is:
- flour
- water
- margarine – or you could use clarified butter, see above
- salt
- vegetable oil or melted margarine for frying
And that’s it! Of course you can also get carried away with the toppings. Chopped or grated tomato is traditional, together with grated cheese and schug – chili sauce. I like it with Israeli chopped salad, sliced avocado, hard boiled eggs, and even very untraditional toppings like smoked salmon! You can also use your malawach to make awesome pizza bases. Yum!
Quick and easy!
The dough is really simplicity itself to make – flour and water and let the mixer do the rest. The dough is rested, then rolled thinly and spread liberally with the softened margarine. Next it has to be folded and rolled, like puff pastry, to incorporate the fat and create the flaky layers. I used a slightly cheaty method, of rolling the buttered dough into a long roly-poly, then folding the ends in to give three layers, then rolling the whole thing flat with a rolling pin. I hope that makes sense.
Kipper was extremely taken with the malawach, but since a) it’s delicious, and b) it was served with boiled eggs, cheese, and an assortment of her other favourite foods, it was never likely to be a disappointment.
Malawach for Dinner? Lunch? Brunch?
Although we ate these malawach for a light dinner, they’re more usually served for lunch or even brunch or breakfast. They’re terrific at any time of day!
The recipe here made four flatbreads, and Kipper and I had two each. We could probably have eaten more of this crispy, rich, flaky fried dough if it had been available though. Double or triple the recipe if you want – it’s super yummy.
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Malawach - Yemenite Jewish fried flatbread
Ingredients
- 200 g plain flour
- 100 ml water
- Pinch salt (optional)
- 50 g margarine
- Extra margarine or oil for frying
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour and water and mix using the dough hook until a soft dough is formed. Leave the motor running to knead the dough for a few minutes - it should leave the sides of the bowl clean.
- Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with cling film, and leave to stand for 30-40 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces.
- Roll a piece of dough into a circle roughly 20-25cm (8-9 inches) in diameter and spread a quarter of the margarine evenly over it - it will look like a lot of margarine! Roll up to form a long roly-poly, then fold the ends in to give three layers. Finally, flatten together slightly with the rolling pin and set aside.
- Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
- Heat a little oil or margarine in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Roll one of the pieces of dough out into a 20cm (approx. 8 inch) circle, then fry in the hot oil for a few minutes on each side, until golden, crisp, and cooked through.
- Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Serve warm or hot, cut into wedges.
Notes
Nutrition
More delicious Israeli recipes
Malawach is a popular dish in Israel, where you will also find creamy and delicious malabi pudding, cool and refreshing limonana – mint lemonade, and incredibly moreish, crunchy red cabbage salad.
Judith Allen
These look really good, pleased that they can be vegan too so my daughter could enjoy them. I’m not even at all hungry, but if these appeared in front of me right now I think I could still eat them.
Helen
Thanks Judith. And I completely second your sentiment about hunger!
Heather Haigh
That looks quite delicous.
Helen
Thanks Heather! ?
Sarah Klinkowitz
Looks great! I’d love some chopped meat (mince) cooked with spicy sauce on this!
Fuss Free Helen
Oh they look really really good and I can just imagine how good they are topped with melted cheese. Thanks for linking up to #Creditcrunchmunch
Winnie
Your Malawach looks wonderful!! Usually it goes with tomato- sauce, but it’s so delicious that I eat it simply plain. I LOVE it
Helen
I agree! Sometimes it doesn’t reach the plate, just goes straight into my mouth!!
Charlotte Oates
This sounds like just my sort of thing. I love crispy bread with picky food (if that makes sense). Adding this to my “to make” list 🙂
Helen
Thanks Charlotte. I hope you enjoy them – we did!
Nayna Kanabar (@SIMPLYF00D)
These look delicious and look very similar in method and texture to the Indian paratha.
Helen
Thanks Nayna. Yes, I think they’re quite similar, although aren’t parathas usually made with butter?
Mandy Mazliah
Love the sound of this and it was really interesting to read about Yemenite food too. I’ve been to Israel before but didn’t encounter any Yemenite food, which I’m now feeling really disappointed about! I know my kids would love this – they haven’t met a bread they don’t like yet… Thanks for linking up with #CookBlogShare this week.
Helen
Thanks Mandy. Sorry you didn’t get to try Yemenite food in Israel – now you have an excuse to go back! Hope you and your kids enjoy this. H x.
hijackedbytwins
I have never heard of this type of bread but wow it looks so good! I can imagine having this with cheese, meats, dips and a glass of wine x #CookBlogShare
Helen
Sounds like a plan!
fabfood4all
This looks so good Helen and I can imagine it with so many different toppings. Thanks for entering #CreditCrunchMunch with this super recipe:-)
Helen
Thanks! A friend told me he uses this as a pizza base for his kids. I can see we’re going to be making these a lot!!
Penelope's Pantry
These look fantastic – I have a poorly boy who’s very bread orientated at the moment. I think these may be part of our lunch tomorrow. Love the fact that they’re not reliant on butter either.
Helen
Hope he’s feeling better soon. If these malawach make him feel a bit better, that makes me happy 🙂
Ceri @Natural Kitchen Adventures
Wow, that looks like seriously flaky butter good stuff! And eating with egg and aubergine sounds like the perfect combo!
Helen
Thanks Ceri. Kipper certainly thought is was a great combination 🙂
Helen at Casa Costello
This looks just what I was after for after school treat later on – Don’t fancy it with egg too much but tomatoes sound divine.
Helen
Happy to help Helen! I hope you enjoy it. To be honest, it’s pretty good just eaten plain, straight from the pan!