A new month and another beautiful traditional Arabic recipe for the group Arabic flavor. Our wonderfully talented host Areej chose to take us to the north of Jordan, specifically to the city of Irbid to teach us how to make Matabka.
Matabka or matabqa is a traditional onion filled layered bread, popular in the North of Jordan. What sets this beautiful layered bread apart is the fact that it uses olive oil instead of butter to achieve the flaky layers. That gives it a uniqe earthy nuttiness that is simply irresistible
Biting into this bread is a real treat! The outer layers are crisp and crunchy while the inner layers are soft and chewy. The sauteed onions add a wonderful hint of sweetness that perfectly complements the delicate bread.
Ingredients
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds (optional)
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds (optional)
About 1 and 1/2 cups warm water (you may need a little more or less)
Filling
4 cups chopped onions
1 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon turmeric
Directions
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a kneading attachment (or a regular bowl if you are doing this by hand) , add the flour and salt
Slowly add the water and knead, until you get a smooth and sticky dough. This type of dough is called ajeen awees which means extra wet dough. You need the dough to be this wet to be able to stretch it later
Knead the dough for 10 minutes in your stand mixer or 15 if you are doing this by hand
Divide the dough into 4 parts, drizzle generously with olive oil, allow to rest for an hour
In the mean time, prepare the filling
Heat the olive oil in a pot, add the chopped onions with the salt, pepper and turmeric.
Cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent
Drain the onions, reserve the oil
On a clean surface, preferably marble drizzle some of the reserved olive oil and start spreading the dough with your hands gently and slowly until it is really thin
I tried to shoot a simple video to show you the stretching technique
The result is a very thin circle of dough
Spread a little of the filling all over the dough
Here is a video showing the filling and folding procedure
First fold 1/3 of the dough over the middle 1/3, spread with some filling
Fold the other 1/3 over the center and spread with some filling
Again fold 1/3 of the dough over the middle third, then fold over the other third.
The result is a square of layered dough
Put this square on the side and spread another dough ball into a thin circle
Spread with some filling
Place the square of layered dough in the center of the circle
Repeat the folding technique
Up until now we have used 2 dough balls, you can stop here or you can keep on layering up to 7 layers
I personally prefer stopping at 2, that way I can reduce the cooking time
Place the finished layered loaf into a pan and allow it to rest for 30 minutes
Gently spread the loaf to make it thinner and larger
Bake in a preheated oven (380 F or 190 C) on the central rack
For a 2 layer loaf : bake for 20-25 minutes
For a 5 layer load: bake for 40 minutes
Serve with some homemade yogurt and a green salad
المطابقه الاردنيه
٣ كوب طحين
نصف ملعقه صغيره ملح
(و اختياري اضافه نص ملعقه حبة بركه ونص ملعقه شومر ونص ملعقه يانسون حبوب)
كوب و نص ماء للعجين
الحشوة
اربع اكواب بصل مفروم
كاس زيت زيتون
نصف ملعقه صغيره ملح
نصف ملعقه صغيره بهار حلو
ملعقه صغيره كركم او عصفر او بالاردني بسموه ورص
Chef in disguise 