Eish bel Lahm (middle eastern Saudi dish)

Eish bel lahm (meat galette) A traditional Saudi dish that is so popular in Hijaz area in Saudi Arabia, especially in Mecca..

As it is the Arabic flavor time of the month, the Challenge was this amazing Eish bel lahm dish, which literally means (bread meat)

The beautiful Salma Ali (host of this moth) introduce her recipe for this amazing Saudi dish, and I were so excited to try it! because I feel little curious to know more about Saudi cuisine.

and this was my entry,

will leave you now with the recipe adopted from my friend Salma ALi

Eish bel lahm (Saudi traditional meat galette dish)

Ingredients :

This amount is enough for 2 round pans (30 cm in diameter each)

For the dough

5 and ½ cups of patent all purpose flour (see notes)

2 tablespoons instant yeast

4 tablespoons milk powder

½ teaspoon ground mahlab

½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

½ teaspoon nigella seeds

2 eggs

¾ cups vegetable oil

1 and ¼ cups of water (you may need an additional ¼ cup)

For the filling

500 grams ground meat (you can use beef,lamb or goat)

3 large onions finely chopped

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground coriander

3 tablespoons olive oil

Tahini sauce

1 cup tahini sauce (see notes)

1 tablespoon black vinegar (or 3 tablespoons white vinegar or 3 tablespoons lemon juice)

2 cups chives chopped

½ cup water

2 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

For the topping

2 eggs (1 per pan)

2 teaspoons vinegar

un-toasted sesame seeds

Directions : Prepare the filling

1. Place the olive oil and the onions in a pan, stir over medium heat for 3-4 minutes

2. Add the ground meat, salt, all spice,cumin and coriander

3. Break down the meat and cook over medium heat till the meat juices disappear.

4. Turn off the heat and allow the filling to cool down completely

5. Mix the tahini, vinegar or lemon juice and whisk till the tahini thickens and the color becomes lighter

6. Add ½ cup of water to the tahini and whisk

7. Add the tahini sauce, chopped chives and pomegranate molasses (if using) to the meat and stir till the mix is homogenous

To make the dough

1. Sift the flour and mix it with the powdered milk, instant yeast ,the seeds , and spices

2. Add the oil and rub it into the flour mix with your finger tips till the flour completely absorbs the oil and the consistency resembles wet sand (You can also do this in a stand mixer using a paddle attachment)

3. Whisk the 2 eggs with 1 cup of warm water and add them to the flour mixture. Start kneading (If using a stand mixer now is the time to switch to a hook attachment)

4. Add water gradually till you get a smooth dough. (the total amount of water needed is between 1 and ¼ cups to 1 and ½ cups)

5. Divide the dough in half, cover it and allow it to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes

6. Traditionally ghee is used to grease the pan, this gives a wonderful crunch to the underside of the bread. You can use parchment paper or simply spray the pan with oil

7. Roll out each half of the dough into a circle at least 4 to 5 cm larger than the diameter of your pan. Transfer the dough to the pan leaving the excess to hang over the edges.

8. Divide the filling in half between the two pans and spread it to cover the base of the dough

9. Fold the edges over to cover the periphery of the filling

10. Whisk one egg with one tablespoon vinegar per pan and brush it over the edges that you folded over

11. Sprinkle with sesame seeds

12. Using a tablespoon, drizzle some of the whisked egg over the meat filling

13. Allow to rest for 15 minutes

Baking

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C, place the rack in the middle

2. Bake the Eish for 30 minutes or until the edges touch the pan become golden brown (it took 45 minutes in my oven but ovens vary)

3. If the top is not golden brown, turn on the broiler for 3-5 minutes till it becomes golden brown

Notes:

• The recipe uses a special type of flour available called Patent all purpose flour

Patent flour is the purest and highest-quality commercial wheat flour available. Patent flour is made from the center portion of the endosperm.

You can read more about it here http://www.thefreshloaf.com/…/patent-flour-versus-bread-flo…

If you can't find it my guess is that bread flour will give you a very similar result

• You can replace part of the tahini sauce with greek yogurt for a lighter sauce (replace 1-3 tablespoons)

• The pomegranate molasses was suggested by one of the members and to be honest I have tried the recipe with and without it and it tastes better with it. (If you like that hint of sweet and sour in pomegranate molasses). It is not that pronounced in the final product but it does add an edge to the filling