Yemeni · appetizer

Shafut (Flatbread Soaked in Herbed Buttermilk)

Name: Shafut (Flatbread Soaked in Herbed Buttermilk)
Prep time: 8 min
Total time: 58 min
Cuisine: Yemeni
Ingredients: lahoh flatbreads — 320 g; plain yogurt — 700 g; buttermilk — 200 g; coriander leaves — 40 g; mint — 20 g; spring onions — 60 g; green chilies — 20 g; garlic — 9 g; salt — 7 g; cumin — 5 g; lemon juice — 30 g; olive oil — 27 g

Shafut (Flatbread Soaked in Herbed Buttermilk) reads citrus 5.3, herbaceous 4.6 and sourness 4.4 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Yemeni appetizer, about 58 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 3.8 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 1.6 / 10
Sour & Bright — 6.7 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 2.2 / 10
Rich & Fat — 3.4 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 5.4 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Citrus 5.3 · Herbaceous 4.6 · Sourness 4.4 · Allium 3.7 · Salinity 3.5 · Richness 3.1 · Heat 2.6 · Funk & Ferment 2.1 · Earthy 2.0 · Floral 2.0 · Warm Spice 1.9 · Sweetness 1.3 · Fruity 1.1 · Umami 1.1 · Bitterness 1.0 · Nutty 0.9

What's in it (12)

lahoh flatbreads — 320 g
plain yogurt — 700 g
buttermilk — 200 g
coriander leaves — 40 g
mint — 20 g
spring onions — 60 g
green chilies — 20 g
garlic — 9 g
salt — 7 g
cumin — 5 g
lemon juice — 30 g
olive oil — 27 g

Time & effort: about 58 min (8 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 36.2 kcal, 2.8 g protein, 0.3 g fat, 5.8 g carbs

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

How it's cooked (8 steps)

Lahoh is the spongy fermented Yemeni pancake bread, full of holes, sold at Yemeni and Somali bakeries and made from a sorghum or plain flour batter left to sour overnight. Its holes are what hold the sauce; a dense pita gives a stodgy shafut.
Put the coriander, mint, spring onions, chillies, garlic, cumin, salt and lemon juice in a blender with 100 ml of the buttermilk and blend 1 minute to a vivid green liquid. Do not over-blend or it heats and dulls.
Whisk the green mixture into the yoghurt with the remaining buttermilk until you have a loose, pourable, brilliantly green sauce. Taste — it should be sharp, salty and hot enough to notice.
Chill the sauce 30 minutes. Shafut is a Ramadan dish and is eaten cold, straight from the fridge, after a long hot day of fasting.
Lay one flatbread in a wide shallow dish and ladle over a quarter of the sauce, letting it soak. Add the next bread and repeat, building four layers.
Cover and leave 20 minutes so the bread drinks the sauce and softens through but has not yet dissolved. Any longer and it turns to porridge.
Drizzle with the olive oil and cut into squares to serve, spooning extra sauce from the bottom of the dish over each portion.
Substitutions: thin sourdough flatbreads (320 g) can stand in for the lahoh flatbreads; cold water can stand in for the buttermilk.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Turkish Cucumber And Mint Soup — Turkish
Grilled Lamb Kebabs with Mint Yogurt — Greek
Remoulade Sauce — Cajun/Creole
Moroccan Tomato Soup — Moroccan
Sahawiq Akhdar (Green Chilli, Coriander and Cardamom Relish) — Yemeni

Keep reading: what citrus, herbaceous, sourness 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.