Balaleet — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A unique Kuwaiti breakfast of sweet saffron-cardamom vermicelli noodles topped with a thin savory egg omelet. This beloved dish balances sweet and savory in every extraordinary bite.

Ingredients

250g thin vermicelli noodles
3 tbsp butter or ghee
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp saffron in 2 tbsp rosewater
1 tsp ground cardamom
4 eggs
1 tbsp oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of turmeric

Instructions

1 Break vermicelli noodles into short pieces. Toast lightly in a dry pot for 2 minutes until golden, watching carefully to avoid burning.
2 Add butter, sugar, saffron-rosewater mixture, and cardamom. Pour in just enough water to cover the noodles.
3 Cook over medium heat, stirring gently, for 8-10 minutes until the noodles are tender and have absorbed the liquid.
4 Beat eggs with a pinch of salt and turmeric. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.
5 Pour in the egg mixture and cook as a thin, flat omelet for 2-3 minutes per side until just set but still soft.
6 Mound the sweet vermicelli on plates and lay the egg omelet on top or alongside. Serve warm for breakfast.

Did You Know?

Balaleet confuses first-time visitors — the sweet noodles with savory egg seems wrong until the first bite proves it gloriously right.