🇾🇪 Yemen
Malawah
In Sanaa and across the diaspora, malawah is the bread that stretches a breakfast: rolled with samn, coiled like a rope, and fried until each spiral shatters — dunked in honey or scooped through fasolia and shakshouka.
Cooking for
4 people
✨ What makes it special
The rope-coil lamination with samn (often scented with hilbeh or black seed) makes spirals you can unwind at the table.
Ingredients
- 500 gflour
- 1 tspsalt
- 300 mlwarm water
- 150 gsamn or butter, soft
- 1 tspnigella seeds (optional)
- to tastehoney to serve
Method
- 1
Knead a smooth dough and rest it well — relaxation is what allows the thin stretch.
- 2
Stretch each ball into a thin sheet, spread with samn, and scatter nigella if using.
- 3
Roll into a rope, coil into a snail, then flatten the coil into a disc.
- 4
Fry on a medium griddle with a little samn until both sides are flaky gold.
- 5
Serve hot with honey, or alongside beans and tea for a full Yemeni morning.
🍽 On your table
How this dish looks served for 4