malawach

in hebrew, malawach means “board-like bread”. but this light, flaky, pancake-shaped pastry is anything but board-like.

in my journey through baked goods and pastry-making, bread and laminated dough remain the most foreign. this recipe, simplistic in ingredients (flour, salt, sugar, water, and ghee, with a splash of vinegar) and in process (a quick roll out, a brush of fat, and then a quick coil, similar to a chinese scallion pancake), reminds me that both ‘bread’ and ‘laminated pastry’ can be fun and stress-free with the right recipe. funnily enough, I woke up this morning intending to take on an entirely different kitchen project (involving chocolate), but couldn’t get flaky dough out of my mind and ended up here.

malawach, which comes from yemenite jewish cuisine, is usually eaten with grated tomatoes and zhug, but I enjoyed it with honey and a sprinkle of za’atar.

makes 8 malawach

540g (4 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
16g (1 tbsp) morton kosher salt
12g (1 tbsp) granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups water
99g (7 tbsp) ghee (or clarified butter), room temperature, divided
1 tsp white wine vinegar
14g (3 tbsp) butter, softened
215g (1 cup) canola oil
 

alon shaya. shaya: an odyssey of food, my journey back to israel. new york: alfred a. knopf, 2018.

1 in a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and sugar. ad the water, 1 tbsp ghee, and vinegar, and stir with a wooden spoon until liquid is all absorbed.
2 knead dough until pliable and moist, but not totally smooth, 2-3 minutes. cover loosely in a bowl for 30 minutes.
3 remove dough from bowl and knead until smooth, ~3 minutes. divide into eight even pieces and form each into a smooth ball.
4 in a small bowl, combine remaining 6 tbsp ghee with softened butter, then use a pastry brush to paint a thin layer of butter onto work surface. working with one ball of dough at a time, roll it out into a roughly ~10-inch round. brush with butter, then tightly roll up the dough like a jelly roll. coil roll into a tight spiral, tucking the end underneath. repeat with the rest, then arrange them all on a plate or baking sheet, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until firm and well-chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
5 to fry the malawach: flatten each piece of dough gently with your hand, then roll out each into a roughly 9-inch circle on a clean, non-floured work surface. stack between pieces of plastic wrap.
6 set a wire rack above plate or line plate with paper towels. place skillet over high heat and pour in canola oil. once oil starts to smoke, add one malawach and immediately reduce heat to medium. cook until the bottom and edges are golden, 1-2 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional minute, basting a bit of oil over the dough throughout the cooking process by carefully tilting the pan.
7 move fried malawach to the wire racks after they are done, and continue to cook remaining malawach over medium heat for the remainder of the process. serve immediately.