Martabak Mini - Pan-fried Stuffed Flatbread

Hello again!
Time for more recipe from home.
As Ramadhan is here, it's always good to cook some savory bites for Ifthar, the time where we can break our fast.

And Martabak is another famous all-time dishes in Indonesia. 

I'm not pretty sure how to translate martabak in English. Perhaps it doesn't have the exact word for that but what I can think of is the flatbread. It might not be the same but as you will see this food later, tell me what you think is the best name for it :).

Back home in Indonesia, many love the sweet martabak, like tick pancake with chocolate, crushed nuts, and cheese fillings. Almost in many big corners in the streets of Jakarta, we have this special food cart selling sweet martabak.

But my family loves the savory one.

It is surely different from the sweet version but it tastes heavenly. Some say that this typical food is originated from the Middle East, but get some adjustments when arrived in Asia, particularly in Indonesia.

I have to say we have many types of savory martabaks as well. The difference is on the fillings and the sauce. One might have either meat, mutton, or chicken fillings, mixed with eggs and boiled potatoes.We can eat it with a special sauce, made of palm sugar, tamarind, garlic, and chili, or rather a runny curry sauce or even just with pickled cucumbers and shallots.

my simple version of martabak :)

What I am about to share with you is the super simple one. Something that we can swiftly manage to cook at home but still have the exquisite taste of the famous martabak. I don't make the pastry myself as I use the ready-made spring rolls pastry. It's yummy and safe so much time :).

Are you ready?

Let's start with the ingredients:

Minced chicken - 250 gr. Feel free to substitute it with beef, mutton or no meat at all.

Spring roll pastry - easily found in oriental or asian market.

Soy sauce - 1 teaspoon

Worcestershire sauce - 1 teaspoon

Sesame oil - if desired, 1 teaspon

Salt - as needed

Pepper - as needed

Nutmeg  - as needed

Sugar - as needed

Eggs - 4

Potatoes - 2 big ones

Shalots - thinly sliced

Onions - finely chopped

Spring onions - thinly sliced

How to cook:

First,  we boil the potatoes until they are soft enough. Peel the skin and cut them into small cubes.

Then for the filling, mix the minced chicken with soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, nutmeg powder and sugar as you like it. If desired, you can also add sesame oil. Then whisk the eggs, add the cube boiled potatoes and mix them all with the spiced mince chicken until the mixture is well mixed and thick/sticky.

Get your skillet cooking pan ready.
Now, to cook it, you can either pan fry it or deep fry it. I usually do the pan fried version because it's less oily. 

So take a spoonful of the filling into the pastry and fold it into a nice square. Put it on the skillet, which has been preheated with oil or butter. Cook it until it's golden brown. I usually use low heat and turn it over several time until it is well cooked. Sometimes, to get a crispier pastry, I put the pastry on the skillet first, let it cook for 2-3 seconds, then put a spoonful of filling and quickly fold it into square with the help of spatula. Cook it until it's golden brown.

You can it it with chili sauce or fresh chili.
Or if you do have some extra time, you can also prepare acar or cucumber, carrots and shallot pickles using apple vinegar, salt and sugar. Acar will be the perfect garnish for this martabak.

Hope you enjoy this simple recipe.
Cocok banget lho buat menu berbuka puasa karena buatnya mudah dan cepat. Buat kami yang tidak punya kemewahan jajan di warung atau makanan bukaan kaki lama yang banyak bermunculan di tanah air (duuuh rindunya :)...), maka resep sederhana ini bisa jadi obat kangen untuk jajanan enak di Indonesia.

Happy Ramadhan to those who observe it and happy cooking to you all .

enjoooy..

Check out more of my stories at #Steller :)