🇲🇾 Malaysian Cuisine

Murtabak

Stuffed Savory Pancake

Prep Time 1 hour
Servings 4
Difficulty Medium
Calories 548 kcal

A crispy, flaky roti dough stuffed with seasoned minced beef, onions, eggs, and spices, folded into a parcel and pan-fried until golden — served with curry sauce and pickled onions.

Ingredients

  • 500g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 200ml warm water
  • 300g ground beef
  • 2 large onions, diced
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • Salt and pepper
  • Ghee for frying
  • Curry dipping sauce
  • Pickled onions

Instructions

  1. 1 Make dough: mix flour, salt, ghee, and warm water. Knead until smooth and elastic. Rest for 30 minutes.
  2. 2 Sauté garlic, then add ground beef with curry powder, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. Cook until browned. Mix in diced onions.
  3. 3 Divide dough into balls. Stretch each ball paper-thin on an oiled surface using your hands (not a rolling pin for authenticity).
  4. 4 Place the beef filling and beaten egg on the stretched dough. Fold the edges in to form a square parcel.
  5. 5 Fry on a well-greased griddle over medium heat, pressing gently. Flip and cook until both sides are golden and crispy.
  6. 6 Cut into squares and serve with curry sauce and pickled onions.

Did You Know?

The best murtabak makers in Malaysia can stretch the dough so thin you can read a newspaper through it — this paper-thin technique is called "terbang" (flying) dough.

From The Culinary Codex — http://theculinarycodex.com/dish/malaysian/murtabak/