Malooga
Encyclopedia
Malooga is a Yemen
i flatbread
eaten with bean dishes, scrambled eggs
, spiced buttermilk
, and many other Yemeni savory dishes.
dough
with water
, yeast
, salt
, and flour
. It is kneaded very well and set to rise for an hour. It is cut to large rounds. Each round is then stretched, and warm ghee
is spread over the stretched dough, it is folded over and more ghee is applied, and this process is repeated 1-3 times. All sides are pinched together to form a neat ball. After a few minutes of sitting, the round is stretched into a flat circular shape and placed on a makhbaza that is used in placing the dough on the wall of a hot taboon much like the tandoor
. It is then glazed with an egg-wash, ghee, or buttermilk
and baked until the bottom is brown and with some browning on top.
Malooga has historically been a very cheap foodsource for most poor and famished Yemeni people. However, due to the rapidly increasing cost of yeast and flour, the cost of Malooga has skyrocketed over 150% since 2004. In fact, the average cost of a single Malooga is now expected to rise to 3 rials (0.15 USD) by the end of 2008.
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
i flatbread
Flatbread
A flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, and salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened: made without yeast or sourdough culture: although some flatbread is made with yeast, such as pita bread....
eaten with bean dishes, scrambled eggs
Scrambled eggs
Scrambled eggs is a dish made from beaten whites and yolks of eggs . Beaten eggs are put into a hot pot or pan and stirred frequently, forming curds as they coagulate.-Sample preparation:...
, spiced buttermilk
Buttermilk
Buttermilk refers to a number of dairy drinks. Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream. It also refers to a range of fermented milk drinks, common in warm climates where unrefrigerated fresh milk otherwise sours quickly...
, and many other Yemeni savory dishes.
Preparation
Malooga dough is made very much like pizzaPizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
dough
Dough
Dough is a paste made out of any cereals or leguminous crops by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid. This process is a precursor to making a wide variety of foodstuffs, particularly breads and bread-based items , flatbreads, noodles, pastry, and similar items)...
with water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
, yeast
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
, salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, and flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
. It is kneaded very well and set to rise for an hour. It is cut to large rounds. Each round is then stretched, and warm ghee
Ghee
Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
is spread over the stretched dough, it is folded over and more ghee is applied, and this process is repeated 1-3 times. All sides are pinched together to form a neat ball. After a few minutes of sitting, the round is stretched into a flat circular shape and placed on a makhbaza that is used in placing the dough on the wall of a hot taboon much like the tandoor
Tandoor
A tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia, as well as Burma and Bangladesh.The heat for a tandoor was...
. It is then glazed with an egg-wash, ghee, or buttermilk
Buttermilk
Buttermilk refers to a number of dairy drinks. Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream. It also refers to a range of fermented milk drinks, common in warm climates where unrefrigerated fresh milk otherwise sours quickly...
and baked until the bottom is brown and with some browning on top.
Malooga has historically been a very cheap foodsource for most poor and famished Yemeni people. However, due to the rapidly increasing cost of yeast and flour, the cost of Malooga has skyrocketed over 150% since 2004. In fact, the average cost of a single Malooga is now expected to rise to 3 rials (0.15 USD) by the end of 2008.