Yemeni · dessert

Bint al-Sahn (Layered Honey and Nigella Bread)

Name: Bint al-Sahn (Layered Honey and Nigella Bread)
Prep time: 1 h 22 min
Total time: 2 h 52 min
Cuisine: Yemeni
Ingredients: all-purpose flour — 500 g; eggs — 220 g; yeast — 7 g; caster sugar — 4 g; salt — 7 g; water — 180 g; ghee — 300 g; yemeni sidr honey — 200 g; nigella seeds — 30 g

Bint al-Sahn (Layered Honey and Nigella Bread) reads richness 6.8, sweetness 5.0 and funk & ferment 4.2 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Yemeni dessert, about 2 hr 52 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 4.7 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 5.0 / 10
Sour & Bright — 0.3 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 0.9 / 10
Rich & Fat — 7.9 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 0.8 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 6.8 · Sweetness 5.0 · Funk & Ferment 4.2 · Nutty 3.7 · Salinity 3.7 · Umami 2.1 · Bitterness 0.8 · Allium 0.7

What's in it (9)

all-purpose flour — 500 g
eggs — 220 g
yeast — 7 g
caster sugar — 4 g
salt — 7 g
water — 180 g
ghee — 300 g
yemeni sidr honey — 200 g
nigella seeds — 30 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 52 min (1 hr 22 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 338 kcal, 5.8 g protein, 22.8 g fat, 27.3 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water and leave 10 minutes until frothy.
Beat the eggs, add them with the yeast mixture and the salt to the flour, and knead 12 minutes until the dough is silky, elastic and slightly tacky. It is enriched and slack — resist adding flour.
Cover and prove 1 hour until doubled, then divide into 10 equal balls, coat each generously in melted ghee, and rest them 20 minutes on an oiled tray.
Heat the oven to 200°C. On a large ghee-slicked surface, flatten a ball with your palms and then stretch it outwards, working from the centre, until it is a translucent round about 35 cm across. Fold and trim it to fit a 26 cm round tin; a few tears do not matter, since it will be buried.
Lay the first sheet in the tin and brush generously with ghee. Repeat with the remaining nine sheets, brushing ghee between every single layer — the ghee is what separates them into leaves instead of welding them into a loaf. Use nearly all of it.
Scatter the nigella seeds over the top and press them in lightly.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes until deep gold on top and cooked through in the middle; a skewer should come out clean.
While it is still very hot, pour the honey over the whole surface and let it run down through the layers, about 5 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm, with the rest of the honey in a bowl alongside. In Sana'a this ends a feast, and it is eaten with the fingers.
Substitutions: other strong dark honey can stand in for the Yemeni sidr honey.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Challah (Six-Strand Sabbath Bread) — Ashkenazi
Canjeero with Ghee and Sugar — Somali
Coco Bread — Jamaican
Mahamri (Cardamom Coconut Doughnuts) — Swahili Coast
Broa de Milho — Portuguese

Keep reading: what richness, sweetness, funk & ferment mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.