Mutabbaq

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia

Mutabbaq

مطبق  ·  muṭabbaq

A beloved Saudi street-food snack — paper-thin dough filled with spiced minced meat, egg and green onion, folded into a square and pan-fried crisp.

Serves makes ~6

Mutabbaq

Ingredients

  • Dough
  • ½ cup whole-wheat + 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder · salt · 4 tbsp oil · 1 small egg · ~½ cup water (rest oiled ≥2 hr)
  • Filling
  • 1 tbsp oil · 5 garlic · 1 onion · 500g ground meat
  • ½ tsp chili · ¼ tsp turmeric · ½ tsp cumin · 1 tbsp coriander · ½ tsp pepper · salt · 1 tomato
  • Stir into cooled filling
  • 1 cup spring onions · 3 eggs · optional cheese

Method

  1. Make the dough and rest it, well-oiled, at least 2 hours.
  2. Brown the garlic, onion and meat with the spices about 10 minutes, add the tomato, and cool; then mix in the eggs, spring onions and optional cheese.
  3. Stretch each dough ball until translucent, place 2–3 tbsp filling in the center, and fold all four sides into a parcel.
  4. Pan-fry in a little oil about 4–5 minutes per side until browned and crisp. Cut into squares and serve hot with lemon.

The family table

Origin is shared — traders likely carried it from Yemen and India (a close cousin of murtabak across Southeast Asia). Saudi versions also come with cheese-and-spinach, zaatar, or sweet fillings.

Yumma

Middle Eastern home cooking, organized by country. Your family’s version is the one that counts. · info@yummarecipes.com