Sherba harish beydha (creamy bulghur pudding)

This is a common Yemeni dish served with every iftar. It is reminiscent of rice pudding in that a grain is cooked with milk and sugar until it becomes thick and creamy. It differs in that sherba is served warm with melted semn (dark clarified butter) and honey.

1 cup bulghur, rinsed and drained
3 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
3 cups milk
3 tablespoon sugar (4-5 tablespoon if not using honey)
honey (optional)
semn

Combine water, bulghur, and salt in saucepan, bring to boil, and cook over high for 20 - 30 minutes until tender and most of the water has evaporated. Add milk and sugar. Simmer for 35 minutes or until thickened and bulghur is soft. If not soft, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Place in serving bowls, put a small dallop of semn and honey and enjoy.

Shafuta (A savory buttermilk Ramadan dish)

This is a very simple and light dish that is served at every Yemeni iftar. It is not decadent, elaborate or fancy but I break my Ramadan fast with this dish every day of Ramadan. I don't think I could ever go without this dish in Ramadan.

I love it spicy but my stomach does not sit too well with it, the recipe gives both a measurement for mild and a measurement for spicy. Also the picture does not show it well, but the buttermilk is green from the mint.

1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded* and cut into pieces
1 1/2 cup mint leaves, rinsed
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp salt
1 quart buttermilk
Malooga**, torn into bite-sized pieces

Place jalapeno, mint, cumin, salt, and 1/2 cup of the buttermilk in blender or food processor and grind until smooth. Add mixture back into buttermilk and stir until well mixed. Adjust salt if necessary.

10-15 minutes before serving, place torn pieces of bread in serving bowls and cover with the flavored buttermilk.

*Some of the seeds can be add to make a spicy version
**Malooga can be substituted with any yeast flatbread (not pita nor lavash). French bread can be used but requires less soak time.

Malooga- Yemeni flat bread

This is a very common yeasted flatbread in Yemen that is eaten with eggs, buttermilk, fasoolia and it is used in the Yemeni Ramadan dish called shafuta. In Yemen, it is baked in a taboon but we don't have it here in the U.S. so we had to use a metal pan. We use a makhbaza from Yemen to apply the malooga to the hot pan. The makhbaza is a round, domed tool that you place the malooga on. You pick it up from the bottom which has a handle, and with one swift motion, you smack the malooga on the hot pan or the taboon. Since the majority of you will probably never be able to get a makhbaza, the only way left that works is to bake it like pizza crust.
Directions:

2 cups warm water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
5- 6 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1/3 cup semn, warmed
2 Tbsp Vegetable oil.

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add the rest of the water, 4 cups of flour and salt. Mix with hand, adding more flour to form a stiff dough. Knead for at least 10 minutes or until dough is smooth, not sticky, and pliable.

Cover dough, and place in a draft-free place. Set aside for 1 hour or until risen.

On a surface sprinkled with flour, cut dough into mounds of the size of what you do for a large pizza. Let sit for 5 min. Preheat oven at 550 F. Mix the warmed semn with oil in a small bowl. Prepare a large surface by sprinkling flour. Place one of the mounds on the surface and pat down and stretch into a rectangle, 1/2 an inch thick (about 20 x 15). You can use a rolling pin but you need to use extra flour to prevent sticking.

Brush entire surface with the semn-oil mix, or use your hand. Fold dough in half towards you. Brush the top surface with semn-oil mix and fold it in half towards you again. Brush with semn-oil mix and fold in half sideways. Brush again. Fold sideways and brush with mix again. Finally brush surface and pinch corners together to form a ball. Place ball on the floured pan and, move on to the next one. By the time you have finished layering the last one, the first layered dough would be ready for baking because it had time to rest. Pat down the dough mound into a large round the size of a thick large pizza and place into a greased baking sheet. Brush and eggwash (1 egg + 2 tablespoons milk) or buttermilk on top. Bake in hot oven until bottom is brown and top has brown spots (it won't fully brown).

Fatayer (Middle Eastern mini pizzas)

This recipe is a Yemeni twist of a popular food in the Mediterranean and Gulf Arab countries. I got this recipe from a friend. I put less cheese on mine though, and I used a blend of different cheeses this time. While I don't have the recipe for the dough ready, any pizza dough recipe would work fine. But I will write up the recipe next time I make the dough, so keep a look out for that.

Prepared pizza dough (let rise)

Filling:
2 Tablespoon oil
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 pound ground beef
1/2 tsp curry, or more
1/2 tsp cumin, or more
1/8 tsp black pepper, or more
1/2 tsp salt or more
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 medium tomato, chopped
Shredded cheese preferably mozzarella

Heat oil in saucepan on high heat. Saute potatoes in oil until browned and cooked. Add meat and brown, pour out any excess oil (usually the potatoes absorb the oil so there won't be much). Add seasonings and stir. Adjust flavors and remove from heat.


Preheat oven at 500 F. Cut risen dough onto floured surface into golf ball size. Let rest for 5 min, then pat down each one and place each on ungreased baking sheets. Make several pricks with a fork. Bake each sheet of dough rounds in a preheated oven for 3 min or until half cooked (not browned). Place filling on top of each bread round. Place some of the raw chopped onions and tomatoes. Finally top with cheese. Place back in the over and bake until edges are golden brown and cheese is melted. Serve with hummus or sour cream