Murtabak

Murtabak

A cook making murtabak
Alternative names	Martabak, Mertabak, mutabbaq
Type	Pancake
Place of origin	Yemen, Saudi Arabia
Region or state	Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia

Murtabak or martabak, also mutabbaq (Arabic: مطبق‎‎) (Thai: มะตะบะ), is a stuffed pancake or pan-fried bread which is commonly found in Saudi Arabia (especially the Tihamah and the Hejaz regions), Yemen, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand. Depending on the location, the name and ingredients can significantly vary. The name mutabbaq (or sometimes mutabbag) in Arabic means "folded".

In Indonesia, the Murtabak is one of the most popular street foods and is known as "martabak". There are two Indonesian versions: a sweet one, and a savoury one with egg and meat. Lately, vegetarian murtabaks and other forms of murtabaks with chicken and other stuffings exist and can be found in many Indian Muslim restaurants in Singapore, most famous being those restaurants facing the Sultan Mosque near Arab Street.

In Malaysia, where it is called "murtabak", it was originally sold in Indian Muslim restaurants and stalls, and usually includes minced meat (beef or chicken, sometimes mutton) along with garlic, egg and onion, and is eaten with curry or gravy, sliced cucumber, syrup-pickled onions or tomato sauce. The dish is sold throughout the country, with diverse variations in ingredients or cooking styles and has been adopted by Malay Muslim sellers as well. In Yemen, murtabak also usually includes mutton.

Murtabak originated in Yemen, which has a sizeable Indian population; through Indian traders it has spread back to their home countries, to India and Southeast Asia. The word mutabbaq in Arabic means "folded". The dish referred to as murtabak is a multi-layered pancake that originated in the state of Kerala where the people referred to as "mamaks" ("mamak" means "uncle" in Tamil) hail from. The word "mutabar" is the original name for the particular dish referred to in other languages and dialects as "murtabak." "Mutabar" is an amalgam of two words, "muta" (being the Keralite word for egg, a significant component of the dish) and "bar," an abbreviated form of the word barota, or "bratha roti" (the bread). The bread base or pancake on which it is then spread over is referred to in Hindi as "pratha roti" or "pratha." (Note the difference in pronunciations, pratha and brata).