Malawax — Somali Sweet Crepes
Thin, lightly sweet Somali crepes scented with cardamom — cooked in minutes and folded with sugar, honey or ghee.
Method
- Whisk the flour, sugar, cardamom and salt together in a bowl.
- Beat the eggs with 1 cup of the milk, then pour into the dry ingredients and whisk to a thick, smooth paste. Starting thick is the easiest way to avoid lumps.
- Gradually whisk in the remaining milk and the melted butter until the batter is smooth and as thin as single cream. It should coat a spoon only faintly.
- Rest the batter for 30 minutes at room temperature. This lets the flour hydrate and gives noticeably more tender crepes.
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and brush it very lightly with butter or oil.
- Pour in about ⅓ cup of batter and immediately swirl the pan so it covers the base in a thin, even layer.
- Cook for 60 to 90 seconds, until the edges lift and lightly colour and the surface looks dry and matte.
- Flip and cook the second side for 30 seconds only; it should stay pale. Slide onto a plate and cover with a cloth.
- Repeat with the remaining batter, stirring it occasionally. Serve warm, folded into quarters, with sugar, honey, ghee or a sprinkle of sesame oil.
How to make Malawax — Somali Sweet Crepes
Malawax sits alongside canjeero on the Somali breakfast table, but the two are not the same. Canjeero is fermented, tangy and cooked on one side; malawax is a quick, unfermented, lightly sweet crepe closer to a French crêpe, perfumed with cardamom and mixed in minutes.
Thin batter, light hand
- Advertisement -
The batter should be noticeably thinner than pancake batter. If the first crepe comes out thick or stodgy, whisk in a few tablespoons of milk before continuing; the first one off the pan is always the test.
The rest is worth it
Thirty minutes of resting lets the flour absorb the liquid and the gluten relax, which gives a more tender crepe that tears less when flipped. Batter can also be made the night before and kept refrigerated; stir and check the consistency before using.
Sweet or savoury
Most often malawax is served sweet, folded with sugar and ghee or drizzled with honey, and eaten with spiced tea. It also works well with savoury fillings such as suqaar, in which case reduce the sugar to one tablespoon.
Storage
Cooked crepes keep stacked and covered in the fridge for two days and reheat in a dry pan in under a minute. Interleave with baking paper to freeze.
Traditional Somali breakfast and tea-time cookery; unlike canjeero, malawax is unfermented and lightly sweet. Editorially researched from widely documented preparations, and not kitchen-tested by Axadle.
Contains gluten from wheat flour, egg, and dairy from milk and butter.
Join the conversation