Hawa Makes Lahoh (Somali Pancakes)

That could be, like, the slogan of Somalia.

Sweet and savory.

[relaxed music]

Hi, I'm back.

I'm Hawa, and today and we're making lahoh,

which is our pancakes, very similar to injera,

but doesn't take as long to ferment,

and it's done without the teff.

Lahoh is very special, it's often eaten every day

for breakfast in Somalia.

We're making it today 'cause I love it.

I eat it often in replacement of pancakes,

so let's get started.

So some dry yeast.

Cornmeal.

And some lukewarm water.

So we let this ferment for about two hours,

we put it to the side, before adding on our other things.

So, as I was saying earlier, it's made every single day

around most homes in Somalia, but today we're making it

a little different, we're making it like Eid bread.

So we're adding our own spices,

which you'll see in a little bit.

Let's whisk this together a bit more.

You can have it with tea, you can have it with black tea.

We have it with something called shaah.

It's black tea with milk.

We add a lot of ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves

to our tea to make it more flavorful.

So I'm just gonna put this aside,

let it ferment for two hours.

We'll be back.

[whooshing]

This has been sitting for a few hours.

I'm gonna go ahead and add our flour, baking soda, salt,

and sugar, along with more water.

So I'm gonna slowly put in our flour,

I don't want it to get lumpy, and while doing that,

I'll trickle in some water.

Just gonna keep whisking this together.

You want the batter the consistency of pancake,

even a tad bit more watery.

You don't want lumps.

And you'll see why when we go to the stove.

It should almost be crepe-like, paper thin.

I'm gonna put this in the blender to make it super fine,

and the reason why I'm doing that today is because,

like I said, it's our Eid bread, we're making it special.

So I'm putting all of my spices in

and blending everything together.

Some salt, there we go.

You see that it's a little thick.

I don't want it this thick, so I'll add a bit more water.

It should be just running.

All right.

Wasn't a very cute pour.

So the Somalis adopted lahoh from the Yemenites.

Our brothers and sisters and sisters from Yemen

brought it over to us.

It's similar flatbread, as I was saying earlier, to crepe.

Should be a bit more watery.

So I'm gonna add a bit more water,

just so that it can be a little bit thinner.

Once I'm done whisking everything together,

I'm gonna let it sit for about four to 24 hours.

[whooshing]

So, for the reveal of the swap that was made 24 hours ago.

It smells very fermented.

It's ready to go into our blender.

It's gonna thin out a bit more.

So, when you get it from the night before,

if you listen really closely, you can hear...

You can hear it fermenting, you can literally hear it.

We're gonna throw the lahoh in our Vitamix.

'Kay.

Then I'm gonna add our onion, garlic,

peppercorn, turmeric, our fennel seeds,

and we're gonna just blend everything together.

I like to start on a...

On low, and then take it up as I need to.

There we go.

I'm just looking for everything

to blend together and solify.

Again, I want it to be paper-thin, like a crepe.

I don't want it to be chunky, and I don't want any of

the spices to evident that they're in there,

except for the peppercorn.

Right.

Might have to add a little bit of water,

but that looks really good.

All right.

We're literally gonna make it like pancakes.

We're gonna heat our pan on medium.

I'm just gonna put a little butter.

This is what I do at home,

and I'm gonna make it the same way.

Butter the bottom.

I prefer to use nonstick.

Let that get warm.

Okay.

So we're just gonna scoop a good amount.

You wanna just swirl.

You want to keep it on the thinner side,

that's why I'm going around and around in a circle,

until I get to the very end.

I mean, you want it to fill the whole pan,

so you want it to look like a big tortilla.

You wait until everything bubbled up,

and then we'll take it off and put it to the side

and carry on to the next one.

So do you see the bubbles that are in there?

They pop up, letting you know.

That, and the brownness on the outside,

is how you know that it's finished,

or ready to be put to the side.

We're not using that one.

Here we go.

So I start in the middle, and I let it go around and around,

then I follow up.

It looks like an Ethiopian injera, because it's made in

the same way, in regards to just going in circles like this.

And after greasing the pan the first time,

I won't do it again, so that it doesn't cook it.

I don't want it to cook,

that's why I'm using a nonstick pan.

So you see, the bubbles are coming,

and you can tell that we've used some peppercorn,

and a good amount of turmeric.

Such a pretty color.

Almost like a crepe.

Or exactly like a crepe.

I'm just gonna repeat this process

until all of this is gone.

I am putting a tiny bit of pressure.

You don't want to do it too much 'cause then it'll separate.

So, like, I just did it right there, and it separated a bit.

Some tiny pressure, just to even it out.

It is really easy for it to tear.

It's very much like a crepe.

You want the batter to be really thin, but you also

don't want to be really aggressive with the batter.

You could also just pour it on and just even it out,

you don't have to do the swirl,

but the swirl does help ensure that it cooks evenly.

So this looks really good.

And like it's ready.

Just go under there.

See?

Okay.

All right, look at those bubbles forming!

This is so pretty.

Gonna turn the heat down just a little.

It's funny, 'cause like, you don't want it wet,

but oftentimes, people will throw tea on top of it,

because the sugar with the tea and butter in the morning,

'cause you're drinking it with tea already,

so it's almost like cereal in Somalia, if that makes sense.

Pancakes, cereal.

So we're back, as you can see.

This is our last one.

Just gonna pick it up and go to the other side,

so we can add our different options

of either savory or sweet.

Okay.

This is our lahoh.

Obviously, you can see the beautiful color

that the turmeric has helped us create.

You can see the peppercorn that's in there.

This is our ghee, I am using ghee, and our brown sugar.

Also tea, oftentimes this is,

like I said before, eaten in the mornings,

so a lot of people drink their tea with it.

I'll show you how it's prepared.

[whistling]

There we go.

Little brown sugar.

You can use any kind of sugar, it doesn't have to be brown..

I'm gonna add my melted ghee.

This is traditionally how it's done, too.

So I'm gonna fold it.

Boom.

Pour a little ghee over it.

And voila!

This is Eid bread, AKA lahoh, and it's...

Seriously, you just take it apart.

And then your shaah, or Somali tea.

That's it!

So plate it, brown sugar, melted ghee butter.

You want to taste some with me?

Yeah I do! Come!

All right!

Just break off a piece. Okay.

Same way you would with chapati, or...

A crepe.

So you've got like, a little sweet and savory?

Sweet and savory.

I really like it, you can taste the--

Actually, that could be, like, the slogan of Somalia.

Sweet and savory.

Right, you do the banana curry.

Yeah!

I see, I see a theme!

Is it all-purpose flour?

It's all-purpose flour.

It's just all-purpose flour.

It tastes like-- With active yeast.

A totally different grade with this seasoning.

Like, I thought... Oh, yeah.

It's like, very interesting.

Thank you!

Is that whiskey?

Tea, close.

I was getting really, so I was like...

So take a bite, then try the tea.

Okay.

Brown sugar, okay, let me get the tea.

I know, I know, it's like that.

Mm, I feel transported.

These are great, I'm gonna try this.

I'm gonna try and make this.

I really like the texture of the sugar in there, too.

Instead of, like, a syrup.

Mhm? Yeah.

Because they're so soft, I feel like a syrup

would make it feel, like...

Wet? Wet.

Yeah, yeah.

Aren't you gonna have some tea?

Yeah.

Cheers! Cheers!

[Sohla] Who else is gonna have some?

[Hawa] They're acting shy.

Gaby!

[laughing]

[Gaby] And that's tea, or some sort of...

This is tea that we-- So fluffy!

I love it!

Like, fennel, turmeric...

I really like, either cumin or coriander, or...

Something really spicy .

I think the fennel mixed in with the peppercorn,

the black peppercorn.

It does something weird, something crazy in your mouth.

Yeah, you could feel it on the sides of your tongue.

Yeah!

Like, a small little heat, yeah.

It's like, really bright, and a little bit of heat from

the peppers, the pepper and the fennel, I like that.

Thank you!

You're welcome. Thank you so much.

What a treat.

There's a tradition that Brad Leone started.

Well, cheers!

Cheers! Cheers!

Here you go! Cheers!

I pass on the Friday wine.

To the eyes, to the eyes.

To the eyes.