Luhooh لحوح is a spongy Yemeni bread often served with saucy dishes like zigny زقتي (chicken with berbere sauce) or layered with a tangy yogurt-herb appetizer salad call shufoot.
Luhooh is most similar to Ethiopian ingera bread. Both breads are thin and spongy in texture. ingera bread however has a sour/tangy taste, while luhooh is more savory - kind of like a bubbly crepe.
Although luhooh is traditionally maid for flours and sometimes corn meal, this modern recipe has been adapted by one of my aunts who in my opinion, has perfected it. This recipe is so simple and fool proof. The only real challenge is finding a high quality crepe pan.
Cuisinart and Le Creuset both have great crepe pans that I've tried personally. I've also gone through my fair share of poorly made crepe pans that I found for $10 at Marshalls. If you don't want to invest in a crepe pan, just use a nonstick pan with rounded edges - it should work just fine.
Ingredients:
1 cup warm water كباية ماء دافئ
1 tsp sugar ملعقة ص سكر
1 tbsp active dry yeast ملعقج ك خميرة
3/4 cup all purpose flour ثلاث أرباع كباية دقيق أبيض
1/2 cup pancake mix - I used Aunt Jemima's Classic (not sponsored) نص كباية دقيق بانكيك
1/4 cup wheat flour ربع كباية دقيق أسمر
1 tsp salt ملعقة ص ملح
2 tsp baking powder ملعقتين ص بيكنق بودر
2 cups warm water كبايتين ماء دافئ
Directions
In a bowl, mix sugar into 1 cup of warm water until slightly dissolved. Then add 1 tbsp of fast active yeast. Mix gently then set aside and allow to froth up for about 5 minutes. If your water is not warm enough, the yeast will take longer to activate.
In a separate deep mixing bowl, combine flours, pancake mix, and salt. Then add the frothy yeast along with its liquid and mix to combine.
Gradually mix in an additional 2 cups of warm water. Your batter should be thin like a crepe batter, If it feels too thick (like a smoothie) then add more water, a little bit at a time.
Mix in 2 tsp of baking powder then use an immersion blender or standing blender to blend the batter for 2-3 minutes.
Heat your pan to medium high. Don't be alarmed if your first luhooh burns. This is normal until you figure out the right temperature since every stove and pan is different.
Ladle in 1-2 ladles of your batter to the pan without adding any oil or butter. The amount of batter depends on how wide your pan is. You want to make sure that the batter fills the bottom of the pan without overflowing it.
Cook without touching the luhooh. Bubbles will appear on the surface. Tiny bubbles indicate that your pan is not hot enough, so turn up the heat. You will know when it is hot enough when the bubbles on the surface of your luhooh are larger (see video demo).
Use a spatula to peak underneath the luhooh. It is ready when it has evenly browned - just like a crepe or pancake.
Gently slide your luhooh onto the counter that has been lined with paper towels. Do not overlap the luhooh because they will stick to each other. Let them cook entirely before stacking them.
To store, wrap in paper towel or a clean dish towel then place in a ziplock after they have cooled completely.
Try this luhooh recipe with Yemeni Shufoot.
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