Arabic cuisine-Mutabbaq
Region or state: Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia
The name mutabbaq (or sometimes mutabbag) in Arabic means "folded". Middle Eastern flatbreads filled with a lightly spiced minced meat and egg mixture, folded then pan-fried and cut to squares. Murtabak or martabak, also mutabbaq, is a stuffed pancake or pan-fried bread which is commonly found in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand. Depending on the location, the name and ingredients can significantly vary. Mutabbaq are served as an appetizer, side dish or snack and are a popular street food commonly found in Saudi Arabia My daughters and I enjoyed some of these protein-packed-parcels whilst they were still fresh and crisp for a late weekend lunch, they aren’t nearly as good re-heated.
Ingredients:
Dough: 2 cups plain flour warm water required for kneeding 1/3 cup cooking oil 1 tsp salt Extra cooking oil, for work surface etc
Filling: ½ onion, finely diced 2 clove garlic, minced 1 tsp ginger paste 225g ground meat (I used beef) 2 tomato, finely diced spices- I added cumin, coriander powder, ground black pepper, ground red chili powder 1 cup finely chopped spring onion 1/2 cup green coriander leaver green chillies 2-3 4 eggs salt to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Prepare Dough: 1. Seive the flour in a bowl. 2. Mix salt and flour with a spoon.Then knead well with warm water about 10 minutes. Dough should be soft and slightly sticky. 3. Coat your hands in oil in order to handle the dough.Rest the dough by covering it with wet towel or cling wrap for 30 min. 4. Separate the dough into 4 parts equally and form each part into a smooth ball. Set the balls on a tray and coat generously in oil to prevent from drying out. Cover and let sit for 1 hour. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP or try to work with the dough without letting it sit.Letting the dough rest will allow you to roll it out.
Filling: 1. Sauté onions until brown. 2. Add ginger and garlic paste, saute it. 3. Add mince and cook until meat has browned, breaking up the meat into small pieces, about 10 minutes. 4. Add half tomatoes and all spices and cook for a few minutes until tomatoes are slightly softened and all water dried out that released from tomatoes and mince. 5. Remove from heat and let cool. 6. Lightly beat eggs and salt in a large bowl. Add chopped spring onion, parsaly or green coriander leaves, remaining tomatoes and finally meat mixture. Stir until combined.
Assembling the Mutabbaq:
1. Prepare a large clean flat surface for stretching out the dough, lightly oil the surface. 2. Take a ball of dough and place it on the prepared surface pressing it into the table. It should be very soft now and not spring back at all. Press down until you have a 5-6 inch circle. 3. Add some oil on top of the dough and grab it with your two hands from the bottom. The right hand should be holding from underneath and the left hand holding from above. (This is for right-handed people, for left handed, it would be the opposite). 4. Now quickly lift the dough up with your right hand and toss it back over your left then quickly return it back down to the table in one motion. Move your hand around the outside of the dough to ensure evenness. Keep repeating this motion until the dough has stretched very thin and is see-through. 5. Take a couple spoonfuls of the meat-egg filling and place it on the center of the dough. Pat it down flat and make it into a square. Then fold the sides of the dough over the meat, one at a time. 6. Lift the folded mutabbaq onto a well-oiled frying pan or griddle on medium heat. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, and then flip and cook on the other side until browned and egg is fully cooked. serve hot with lemon.
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