Name: Murtabak (home recipe)
Prep time: 45 min
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Singaporean
Ingredients: For the dough: 500g plain flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons ghee, 350ml warm water; Extra ghee or neutral oil for folding and frying; For the filling: 500g minced mutton (or chicken); 2 onions finely chopped; 4 garlic cloves grated; 1 thumb ginger grated; 2 green chillies finely chopped; 2 teaspoons curry powder (Malay or Madras); 1 teaspoon garam masala; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1 teaspoon ground coriander; half teaspoon turmeric; 2 tablespoons neutral oil; salt to taste; a handful of cilantro chopped; 4 large eggs, lightly beaten; 1 small onion, finely diced, for the assembly; Curry gravy and a sliced cucumber and onion pickle, to serve

History

Murtabak entered Singapore through Yemeni Hadhrami and Indian-Muslim traders along the spice routes; the dish settled into the city's Muslim mamak coffee shops in the early 20th century. Zam Zam Restaurant on North Bridge Road, founded 1908 opposite Sultan Mosque, is widely cited as the canonical Singapore murtabak shop; a second wave of Malaysian-Singapore murtabak houses followed in Kampong Gelam.

Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 45 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

For the dough: 500g plain flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons ghee, 350ml warm water
Extra ghee or neutral oil for folding and frying
For the filling: 500g minced mutton (or chicken), 2 onions finely chopped, 4 garlic cloves grated, 1 thumb ginger grated, 2 green chillies finely chopped, 2 teaspoons curry powder (Malay or Madras), 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, half teaspoon turmeric, 2 tablespoons neutral oil, salt to taste, a handful of cilantro chopped
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 small onion, finely diced, for the assembly
Curry gravy and a sliced cucumber and onion pickle, to serve

Method

Mix flour and salt in a wide bowl. Rub in the ghee. Add warm water gradually and knead 8 minutes to a smooth elastic dough.
Divide into 4 portions, coat each generously in ghee, and rest in a covered tray 2 hours minimum.
Make the filling: heat oil in a heavy pan. Cook the onion 8 minutes until soft and golden.
Add garlic, ginger and green chillies. Cook 2 minutes.
Add curry powder, garam masala, cumin, coriander and turmeric. Toast 1 minute.
Add the minced meat. Brown 6 minutes, breaking up. Salt to taste.
Simmer 15 minutes until the meat is cooked and the liquid is mostly evaporated. Stir in cilantro. Cool.
On a heavily oiled work surface, flatten one dough ball and stretch with oiled fingers (no rolling pin) into a paper-thin square about 30cm across.
Spoon a quarter of the meat filling into the centre. Pour over a quarter of the beaten egg. Scatter a tablespoon of diced raw onion.
Fold the four edges of the dough over the filling to form a square parcel.
Heat a flat heavy griddle or wide pan with a generous slick of ghee. Slide the murtabak on, seam-side down. Cook 4 minutes a side until deeply golden and crisp.
Cut into quarters and serve with curry gravy and pickle.

Tip from the editors. Rest the oiled dough at least 2 hours; the ghee and time make the dough stretchable enough to flap out paper-thin. A rushed dough will tear at the corners and the murtabak will leak.