murtabak

{{Redirect-multi|2|Martabak|Mutabbaq|rice and fish dish|Mutabbaq samak}}

{{Infobox food

| name = Mutabbaq

| image = Murtabak.jpg

| image_size = 250

| caption = A Murtabak serving

| alternate_name = Murtabak

| country = Yemen

| region = Arabian Peninsula, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia

| creator = Yemeni ArabsHoogervorst, Tom (Dec 2018). "[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/itinerario/article/sailors-tailors-cooks-and-crooks-on-loanwords-and-neglected-lives-in-indian-ocean-ports/442E3D4F7E58EFBB54C935A8064D2F92 Sailors, Tailors, Cooks, and Crooks: On Loanwords and Neglected Lives in Indian Ocean Ports]". Itinerario. Research Institute for History, Leiden University. 42 (3): 530-2. doi: 10.1017/S0165115318000645

| course = Starter

| type = Flatbread, pancake

| served = hot or warm

| main_ingredient =

| calories =

| other =

}}

Murtabak, or Mutabbaq ({{langx|ar|مُطَبَّق|muṭabbaq|lit=folded}}, {{IPA|ar|mu.tˤab.baq|label=standard pronunciation:}}), is a Yemeni stuffed pancake or pan-fried bread commonly found in the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia, notably in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Southern Thailand. Depending on the location, the name and ingredients can vary significantly. The name mutabbaq means "folded" in Arabic.{{cite book | title = The World's Best Street Food: Where to Find it & How to Make it | author = Lonely Planet Food| publisher = Lonely Planet | year = 2012 | isbn = 9781743216644| page = 108 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Wat9BAAAQBAJ&q=Murtabak&pg=PT109}}{{cite book | title = A New Approach to Indonesian Cooking | author = Heinz Von Holzen | publisher = Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd | year = 2014 | isbn = 9789814634953| page = 129 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pRuiBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA129}}

Murtabak is often described as a spicy folded omelette or pancake with bits of vegetables.{{cite book|author=Vivienne Kruger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WNHZAwAAQBAJ&q=Martabak+pancake&pg=PT70|title=Balinese Food: The Traditional Cuisine & Food Culture of Bali|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|year=2014|isbn=9781462914234}} Its most common form is made from pan-fried crepes, usually stuffed with beaten eggs, chopped leeks, chives, or green onion, and minced meat, which is then folded and cut into squares.{{Cite web|last=Tahira|title=Make Delicous Memories|url=https://asaanrecipes.com/recipe/saudi-street-food-mutabbaq/|access-date=2020-10-29|website=Asaan Recipes}}

In Malaysia, murtabak was originally sold in mamak stalls, and usually includes minced meat (beef or chicken, sometimes goat meat or mutton) along with garlic, egg, and onion, and is eaten with curry, sliced cucumber, syrup-pickled onions, or tomato sauce.

In Indonesia, the term martabak refers to two dishes: martabak manis, based on apam balik, and martabak telur, which resembles murtabak the closest and includes egg, meat, and scallions.{{Cite web |date=2017-11-01 |title=Resep dan cara membuat martabak telur sederhana |url=https://www.merdeka.com/gaya/resep-dan-cara-membuat-martabak-telur-sederhana-kln.html |access-date=2021-06-30 |website=merdeka.com}} A thinner variant of martabak manis is martabak tipis kering.{{Cite web|last=Media|first=Kompas Cyber|date=2021-02-08|title=Resep Martabak Manis Tipis Kering, Jajanan Jadul Mirip Crepes|url=https://www.kompas.com/food/read/2021/02/08/210900475/resep-martabak-manis-tipis-kering-jajanan-jadul-mirip-crepes|access-date=2022-01-14|website=KOMPAS.com|language=id}}

History

File:MURTABAK 1 0031.jpg making murtabak on top of large flat fry pan, called a tava.]]

The word mutabbaq in Arabic means "folded". This suggests that Murtabak might originate from Yemen, which had a sizeable Indian population; through Indian traders it spread back to their home countries.

Another version of muttabaq was created by a former Ottoman Empire soldier named "Mohammed Zalatimo" in the Old City of Jerusalem in 1860. His version was paper-thin folded filo dough filled with local white cheese, its name was derived from the act of layering yufka sheets. The exact origin of the craft of creating multilayer-dough sweets is debated, with some tracing it to Central Asia.{{cite web | url=https://zalatimo.com/en/our-history | title=ZalatimoBrothers }}{{cite web |last1=Vered |first1=Ronit |title=The Vanishing of a Legendary Palestinian Pastry |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707180651/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2019-07-19/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-vanishing-of-a-legendary-palestinian-pastry/0000017f-da84-d432-a77f-df9f1c8f0000 |website=Haaretz |access-date=15 April 2025 |archive-url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2019-07-19/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-vanishing-of-a-legendary-palestinian-pastry/0000017f-da84-d432-a77f-df9f1c8f0000 |archive-date=7 July 2022}}{{cite web |title=Zalatimo Sweets “the Original” Celebrates 160 Years of Burgundy Wrapped Tasty Sweets |url=https://en.ammonnews.net/article/19917 |website=Ammon News |access-date=15 April 2025 |language=en}} Ammon News{{cite news |last1=Tully |first1=Shawn |title=How an Old School Jordanian Sweets Maker Made it to Walmart |url=https://fortune.com/2019/07/19/how-an-old-school-jordanian-sweets-maker-made-it-to-walmart/ |access-date=4 June 2025 |work=Fortune |date=19 Jul 2019 |language=en}}

Murtabak was brought to Southeast Asia by Tamil Muslim traders. The dish referred to as murtabak is a multi-layered pancake that originated in the state of Kerala where the people referred to as "mamaks" ("mama" means "uncle" in Tamil) 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 the Mughlai paratha popular in Kolkata, 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.Need citation Sometimes martabak – especially sweet – go on sale in stores already in finished form.{{cite book|first=John|last=Dean|title=Rahasia Sukses Usaha Kecil dan Menenggah (UKM) Martabak Manis|language=id|location=Jakarta|publisher=Gramedia Pustaka Utama|year=2007|isbn=978-979-222748-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtT6TTKZntcC&pg=PP5}}

Variants

=Savoury=

File:Martabak Kubang 1.jpg making in Indonesia]]

There are many varieties of martabak. For example, in Brunei, most martabaks are usually not stuffed, but only made of dough (called martabak kosong) similar to the Indian paratha. Martabak kosong consists 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.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jFodz39ukcIC&pg=PA20 |title= Erections in the Far East |first=David |last=Rowley |publisher= Pneuma Springs Publishing |year=2011 |isbn= 978-1907-72831-0 |page=20}} 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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmqEAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA831|title=The World Cookbook: The Greatest Recipes from Around the Globe|edition=Revised|first1=Jeanne|last1=Jacob-Ashkenazi|first2=Michael|last2=Ashkenazi PhD|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2014|isbn=978-1-6106-9469-8|page=831}} Some street vendors mix the ground beef with curry seasoning. In Indonesia, the common spices to make the seasoned ground meat are shallots, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, some salt, and sometimes a little bit of monosodium 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. To fry martabak, the chef uses a very large flat frying pan or iron griddle. Usually they use vegetable oil to fry, but it is not uncommon to use ghee or butter too.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XCjAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA186|title=Street Food Around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture|page=186|first1=Bruce|last1=Kraig|first2=Colleen|last2=Taylor Sen PhD|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2013|isbn=978-1598-84955-4}}

File:Jakarta Indonesia Hawkers-in-Kota-Jakarta-02.jpg]]

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 with acar or pickled condiment consisting of diced cucumber, sliced carrot, shallots, and sliced chillies in sweetened vinegar whereas in Singapore, the condiment consists of sliced cucumbers in tomato ketchup. In Malaysia, Singapore and some areas in Sumatra, martabak is served with kari (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 called Martabak Haji Abdul Rozak, or more commonly known as Martabak HAR, made popular by an Indian Indonesian named Haji Abdul Rozak. There is also a popular martabak variant from Padang, West Sumatra called Martabak Kubang, which is served with light curry as dipping sauce.

Another variety of martabak, especially in Malaysia and Sumatra (such as in Jambi, Palembang, and Lampung), is one called martabak kentang (potato-stuffed martabak).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sks8DQAAQBAJ&q=murtabak+kentang&pg=PT22|title=Recipes When You're Broke|last=Hasan|first=Chef Azian|date=11 October 2016|publisher=PTS Publishing House Sdn. Bhd.|isbn=9789674119089|language=ms}} 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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XXf5krgkKjwC&q=murtabak&pg=PT65|title=Malaysian Food: a collection of my favourite recipes and the inspiration behind them|first=Norman|last=Musa|publisher=Ning Limited|isbn=978-0-9563-7723-4}}

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, shredded Beef Rendang, grilled salmon and Instant noodles.{{Cite web|title=5 Martabak Telur dengan Topping Unik yang Bikin Nagih|work=Qraved Journal |url=https://www.qraved.com/journal/editors-pick/5-martabak-telur-dengan-topping-unik-yang-bikin-nagih}} The popular common instant noodle toppings being used are Indomie and Samyang spicy noodles.{{Cite web|last=Safira|first=Maya|title=Martabak Yuk: Di Sini Ada Martabak Indomie Goreng dan Black Forest yang Unik|url=https://food.detik.com/resto-dan-kafe/d-3283698/martabak-yuk-di-sini-ada-martabak-indomie-goreng-dan-black-forest-yang-unik|access-date=2021-07-01|website=detikfood|language=id}} Mozzarella cheese are sprinkled outside the fried Martabak and then torched to get a melty consistency.

The muttabah of Cape Malays in South Africa is mainly filled with minced meat and spinach with a cheese topping.

In Palestine and Jordan, there is a popular version of Murtabak called Muttabaq Zaatar ({{langx|ar|مطبق زعتر}}), which uses zaatar, onions and sumac as filling, and topped with olive oil, it may be baked in an oven instead of being cooked in a pan.{{cite web |title=مشروع "عليكم جيرة": الورقيّات الفلسطينيّة غذاء وصمود على حدود الجلمة - وكالة وطن للأنباء |url=https://www.wattan.net/ar/news/362196.html |website=وكالة وطن للأنباء |access-date=1 May 2025 |language=ar}}{{cite web |title=مطبق الزعتر الأخضر الفلسطيني |url=https://jordanrec.com/archives/44501 |website=سِجلات الأردن - Jordan Records |access-date=1 May 2025 |language=ar |date=8 November 2020}}

File:Martabak ingredients.JPG|Ingredients of martabak

File:Making martabak telur.jpg|The making of egg martabak

File:Murtabak Raja Kelantan.jpg|Murtabak Raja Kelantan

File:Martabak telur Palembang.jpg|Martabak HAR from Palembang

File:YosriMurtabak.jpg|Murtabak in Malaysia

=Sweet=

File:MartabakManis.JPG]]

Another variety of martabak is called martabak manis (sweet martabak), also known by the name Terang Bulan or Martabak Bangka.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W8ZzthzaqfgC&q=martabak+banka&pg=PT23|title=Atlas Kuliner Nusantara; Makanan Spektakuler 33 Provinsi| last=Khadafi|first=Rizal| date=1 January 2008|publisher=Bukune|isbn=9786028066143|language=id}} This naming however, is only valid in Indonesia, since the identical folded thick pancake is called apam balik instead in Malaysia.

Despite sharing the same name (because they are both folded), the cooking method, dough (which uses yeast and baking soda), and the ingredients (usually vanilla extract is added as essence) are different from egg martabak, giving it a consistency more like a crumpet. 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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0BGQNcAKI4C&q=Variasi+Martabak+Manis|title=Variasi Martabak Manis|last=T. Erwin|first=Lilly|publisher=Gramedia Pustaka Utama|year=2002|isbn=9789792207811|location=Jakarta|language=id}} In parts of Indonesia, egg martabak may also be called Martabak Malabar to distinguish it from sweet martabak.

There are many new varieties of martabak manis, including the addition of green tea powder (matcha), cream cheese, Oreo, and chocolate candies such as Hagelslag, Kit Kat, Ovomaltine, Toblerone and Nutella. Aside from that, durian fruits are often used as a topping.

When ordering Martabak Manis, some stall offer two choice of margarine: Blue Band margarine or Wijsman butter. The Wijsman butter is more costly compared to Blueband margarine as the Wijsman is made by 100% cow milk fat.{{Cite web|last=admin|title=Mengapa Mentega Wisman Sangat Dibutuhkan Untuk Membuat Kue Kering – dindingkota.com|url=https://dindingkota.com/2019/02/mengapa-mentega-wisman-sangat-dibutuhkan-untuk-membuat-kue-kering.html|access-date=2021-07-01|language=en-US}}

In some areas in the Levant, a sweet version is made using nuts or unsalted cheese as filling, and topped with a sugar syrup.

{{cite book

|last1=el-Haddad

|first1=Laila

|url=https://www.google.co.il/books/edition/The_Gaza_Kitchen/hrSIjgEACAAJ

|title=The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey

|isbn=9781859644621

|chapter=Sweets and Beverages

|language=en

}}

Notes

References

Retno Savitri. Masakan & Jalanan Favorit: Kumpulan Resep. — Jakarta: Better Book Niaga Swadaya Group, 2008. — 305 p. — {{ISBN|978-602-8060-07-3}}
Husni Rasyad, Retnowati, Eddy SL. Purba. Peluang Bisnis Makanan Berbasis Tepung. Jakarta: PT Elex Media Komputindo, 2003. — 177 p. {{ISBN|979-20-4876-6}}
John Dean. Rahasia Sukses Usaha Kecil dan Menenggah (UGM) Martabak Manis — Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2007
Hamza Bogary. The Sheltered Quarter: A Tale of a Boyhood in Mecca. — Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1991. — 121 p. — {{ISBN|978-0292727526}}

External links

[http://www.aramcoexpats.com/Articles/Lifestyles/Special-Interest/564.aspx The Culinary Kingdom]
[http://www.nsaayat.com/showthread.php?t=684 Photos of Arabic mutabbaq being prepared]
[https://asaanrecipes.com/saudi-street-food-mutabbaq/ Saudi Style Mutabbaq Recipe]