Jabeez | Yemeni Savoury Pancake

As part of the MENA Cooking Club, this month we are sharing Yemeni food! The dishes included in the challenge were:

Jabeez
Red Bean Stew (Fasoulia)
Khaliat al nahl

I was hoping to see Malawah, my favourite Yemeni flat bread that we have most Fridays for breakfast on the list. I have mentioned about it a few times in my blog and am still trying to master it healthily as it uses loads of butter! But for this challenge, I chose to go with Jabeez as Red Bean Stew or Fasoulia didn't make me want to do it.. and the dessert, Khaliat al nahl is a honeycomb-type cake that I wouldn't be able to pull off without an oven. So Jabeez it is!

I kept postponing making Jabeez hoping to find more recipes on the internet that will help me get an idea. Unfortunately, I did not find much about Jabeez so went with the only blog that had this recipe and adapted it with a few changes. The original recipe reminded me of Adai, a south Indian savoury pancake. It is similar to Adai but here we use legumes instead of lentils and here there is yeast which is not added for Adai.

According to the author of the Yemeniyah blog, Dr Lamya Almas, Jabeez is eaten in Aden, and nowhere else in Yemen. Guess that answers why this recipe is not well known. Honestly, I was apprehensive to make Jabeez as F did not relish Adai and also it was a green colour which kinda does not appeal to him at all. So I made less than the original recipe but added the whole egg and also yoghurt hoping to avoid too much yeast odour which can be a put in the early morning! 😐

I made this on a Friday morning instead of our usual Malawah, but had dosa batter as a backup plan! 😛 But when I served one jabeez fresh out of the pan he loved it and we both were surprised. I got 8 pancakes sized Jabeez that I served with yoghurt sauce. It was all over in no time. This recipe is a keeper and I am sure this can be made with other similar legumes too.

Jabeez | Yemeni Savoury Pancake

Adapted from Yemeniyah
Yields: 8 Jabeez

INGREDIENTS

½ cup black-eyed peas bean soaked overnight
¼ cup whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon instant yeast
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
¼ teaspoon pepper powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 green chillies, finely chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons of finely diced green pepper/capsicum
1 egg
fistful coriander leaves
1 tablespoon thick yoghurt
1 cup lukewarm water (more or less)
salt to taste
a few teaspoons of olive oil for frying ( or any cooking oil)

METHOD

Prepare the batter

Drain the soaked legume bean and grind it into a coarse paste.
Transfer the content into a deep bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except the water and give a good mix
Slowly add water little by little until everything comes together as a thick batter. Not runny.
Cover the bowl and keep it aside for about 20 to 30 minutes

Prepare Jabeez

Heat a non-stick pan or any tawa and grease it with olive oil or any cooking oil
Pour one ladle of batter into the centre of the pan and lightly spread it using the same ladle to reduce the thickness
Cover and cook until you see the top is dried and the bottom starts to brown
Open, flip and cook the other side until done and transfer to a plate
Serve with yoghurt sauce and more onions

Yoghurt and yeast together in a batter give soft and fluffy bread and I was surprised it acted just like pancakes while it was getting cooked. Had to click pictures in a jiffy as a hangry man was waiting and didn't even realize the iPhone was set on Square! Has been happening to me quite often these days. 🙁

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Jabeez | Yemeni Savoury Pancake

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

Prepare the batter

Prepare Jabeez

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