Murtabak

Murtabak, orMutabbaq(Arabic:مُطَبَّق,romanized:muṭabbaq,lit.'folded',standardpronunciation:[mu.tˤab.baq]), is a stuffedpancakeor pan-fried bread commonly found in theArabian Peninsula, theIndian subcontinent, andSoutheast Asia, notably inSaudi Arabia,Yemen,Indonesia,Malaysia,Singapore,Brunei, andSouthern Thailand. Depending on the location, the name and ingredients can vary significantly. The namemutabbaqmeans "folded" in Arabic.
Murtabak is often described as a spicy foldedomeletteor pancake with bits of vegetables.Its most common form is made from pan-friedcrepes, usually stuffed with beaten eggs, choppedleeks,chives, orgreen onion, andminced meat, which is then folded and cut into squares.
In Malaysia, murtabak was originally sold inmamak stalls, and usually includes minced meat (beef or chicken, sometimesgoat meator mutton) along with garlic, egg, and onion, and is eaten with curry, sliced cucumber, syrup-pickled onions, or tomato sauce.
In Indonesia, the termmartabakrefers to two dishes:martabak manis, based onapam balik, andmartabak telur, which resembles murtabak the closest and includes egg, meat, andscallions.A thinner variant ofmartabak manisismartabak tipis kering.
The wordmutabbaqinArabicmeans "folded". This suggests that Murtabak might originate fromYemen, which had a sizeable Indian population; through Indian traders it spread back to their home countries.However, there is a sweets shop named Zalatimo Brothers in Jordan that claims to have invented muttabaq in 1890. Their version is paper-thin folded filo dough filled with local white cheese.Murtabak was brought to Southeast Asia by Tamil Muslim traders.The dish referred to asmurtabakis a multi-layered pancake that originated in the state ofKeralawhere the people referred to as "mamaks" ("mama" means "uncle" inTamil) hail from. The word "mutabar" is the original name for the particular dish referred to in other languages and dialects as "murtabak." "Mutabar" is an amalgam of two words, "muta" (being the Keralite word for egg, a significant component of the dish) and "bar," an abbreviated form of the word barota, or "bratha roti" (the bread). The bread base or pancake on which it is then spread over is referred to in Hindi as "pratha roti" or "pratha" or "parantha" Other than that, "murtabak" is also known to be another version of theMughlai parathapopular inKolkata, India.
There are similar versions of the bread in places such as Yemen and other regions of the Arabic world and Persia. The word "mutabar" is the original name for the egg, chilli, and onion flavoured multi-layered pancake.
In countries where martabak is widely available, it is so common it has become an everyday dish. This dish is made not only at home, but often found in inexpensive food service menus specialising in traditional cuisine, which is why has the reputation of street food.Sometimes martabak – especially sweet – go on sale in stores already in finished form.
There are many varieties of martabak. For example, in Brunei, most martabaks are usually not stuffed, but only made of dough (calledmartabak kosong) similar to the Indianparatha.Martabak kosongconsists of a bread-like dough that is kneaded and prepared similarly to a pancake or other martabak by tossing it into the air, and served piping hot with a sweet curry sauce. In Singapore and Malaysia (where it is called murtabak), the murtabaks are usually filled with spiced beef, chicken or mutton and served with a curry sauce, sweet pickled onions or cucumber in ketchup.Another variant in Malaysia and Singapore is murtabak cheese which uses mozzarella cheese as additional filling. Johorean (Malaysia) and Singaporean murtabak uses more minced meat than most Malaysian murtabak.
The common ingredients of Indonesian egg martabak, besides the dough, is seasoned ground meat (beef, chicken or mutton), sliced green onions, some herbs (optional), beaten duck eggs, salt, and potatoes.Some street vendors mix the ground beef with curry seasoning. In Indonesia, the common spices to make the seasoned ground meat areshallots, garlic,ginger,cumin,coriander,turmeric, some salt, and sometimes a little bit ofmonosodium glutamate. All the spices are ground or minced and stir-fried altogether. Some martabak makers add extra ingredients and other varieties to make their martabak unique, but they all share the same main dough. Tofrymartabak, the chef uses a very large flat frying pan or irongriddle. Usually they use vegetable oil to fry, but it is not uncommon to usegheeor butter too.
Before serving, martabak usually is cut into portions. Sometimes it is eaten with sweet and salty soy sauce and pepper. Savoury versions of martabak in Indonesia and Malaysia usually are served withacarorpickledcondiment consisting of diced cucumber, sliced carrot, shallots, and slicedchilliesin sweetened vinegar whereas in Singapore, the condiment consists of sliced cucumbers in tomato ketchup. In Malaysia, Singapore and some areas inSumatra, martabak is served withkari(curry) gravy. In Palembang, another variety of martabak is egg-martabak (eggs dropped into the flatten dough before folded while frying) served in curry (usually diced potatoes in beef curry) and topped with chillies in sweet-sour soy sauce calledMartabak Haji Abdul Rozak, or more commonly known asMartabak HAR, made popular by anIndian Indonesiannamed Haji Abdul Rozak. There is also a popular martabak variant fromPadang,West SumatracalledMartabak Kubang, which is served with light curry as dipping sauce.
Another variety of martabak, especially in Malaysia and Sumatra (such as inJambi,Palembang, andLampung), is one calledmartabak kentang(potato-stuffed martabak).It usually uses the similar dough as other martabak, but it is stuffed with a mix of diced potatoes, beaten eggs, chopped green onions, and spices instead of beaten egg and ground beef. It is eaten by dipping it into hot sweet-sour soy sauce or curry sauce.
There are many variety of Martabak, specifically in Indonesia, where various types of emerging toppings are being added to innovate the dish. Toppings that are used to substitute the meat are black-pepper sauced minced meat, spicy tuna, shreddedBeef Rendang, grilled salmon andInstant noodles.The popular common instant noodle toppings being used areIndomieandSamyang spicy noodles.Mozzarella cheeseare sprinkled outside the fried Martabak and then torched to get a melty consistency.
ThemuttabahofCape Malaysin South Africa is mainly filled with minced meat and spinach with a cheese topping.
Another variety of martabak is calledmartabak manis(sweet martabak), also known by the nameTerang BulanorMartabakBangka.This naming however, is only valid in Indonesia, since the identical folded thick pancake is calledapam balikinstead in Malaysia.
Despite sharing the same name (because they are both folded), the cooking method, dough (which usesyeastandbaking soda), and the ingredients (usually vanilla extract is added as essence) are different from egg martabak, giving it a consistency more like acrumpet. While it is baked on a pan, the sweet martabak is spread with butter or margarine, sugar, crushed peanuts, chocolate sprinkles, cheese or other toppings. Before serving, the martabak is folded in half, so the toppings get in the middle of martabak.In parts of Indonesia, egg martabak may also be calledMartabakMalabarto distinguish it from sweet martabak.
There are many new varieties ofmartabak manis, including the addition of green tea powder (matcha), cream cheese,Oreo, and chocolate candies such asHagelslag,Kit Kat,Ovomaltine,TobleroneandNutella. Aside from that, durian fruits are often used as a topping.
When ordering Martabak Manis, some stall offer two choice ofmargarine:Blue Bandmargarine or Wijsman butter. The Wijsman butter is more costly compared to Blueband margarine as the Wijsman is made by 100% cowmilk fat.