Malawach

The flaky Yemeni Jewish pan bread: a dough stretched until it is see-through, buttered, rolled into a rope, coiled like a snail shell, chilled, then rolled out and fried in butter.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Flatbreads section and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

• 480 g (4 cups) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 360 ml (1½ cups) water, plus 1 tablespoon at a time if dry
• 113 g (8 tablespoons) salted butter, room temperature, plus more for hands, counter and frying
• Black sesame seeds, optional

Directions

1. Dough. Whisk the flour, sugar and salt. Work in the water for about 3 minutes, then knead 5 minutes until smooth and springy. Wrap and chill at least 1 hour.
2. Stretch. Cut into 6 pieces. Butter your hands and the counter generously. Flatten each piece and pull and stretch it until you can see the counter through it.
3. Coil. Spread 1 teaspoon butter over the sheet, roll it into a long rope, and coil it like a snail shell. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight.
4. Cook. Melt 1 tablespoon butter per bread in a large skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium. Roll a coil to ⅛ inch thick and fry about 2 minutes a side, until crisp and golden. Scatter with sesame if using. Serve hot.

Notes

Source Adapted from Eden Grinshpan, “Turmeric–Black Pepper Malawach,” via Epicurious — made plain here by leaving out the 1 teaspoon turmeric and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. The rope-and-coil shaping is hers. Cross-checked against 196 flavors’ “Malawach,” which kneads 15 minutes, rests the coated dough 45 minutes before and after stretching, and uses ghee.

How it is served Traditionally with grated tomato and a hot relish (zhug), and hard-boiled eggs. In Israel most households buy it frozen.

The Flatbreads section of the Breads pages on the Food site covers the history, the science and the griddles.

The photo The photo shows malawach served with a sliced boiled egg.