🍯 Areeka

Name: Areeka
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Saudi Arabia · southern regions
Ingredients: 300 g whole-wheat flour; 1/2 tsp salt; 200 ml warm water; 150 g soft pitted dates; 60 g ghee; 4 tbsp honey

Origin: Saudi Arabia · southern regions

520kcal

per serving · 200 g

260kcal

per 100 g

10 gProtein5 g / 100 g

20 gFat10 g / 100 g

76 gCarbs38 g / 100 g

Areeka is a dense, sweet dish of freshly baked flatbread torn into pieces and kneaded by hand with soft dates and ghee until it becomes a smooth, warm dough. It is shaped into a mound with a well in the centre, which is filled with more ghee and honey. Everyone eats from the shared plate, pinching off pieces and dipping them into the honey.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

Not veganbecause of: ghee, honey

Contains glutenno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

Contains dairybecause of: ghee

Not keto38 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

flatbreaddategheehoney

Recipe

4 servings40 min

Ingredients

300 g whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
200 ml warm water
150 g soft pitted dates
60 g ghee
4 tbsp honey

Method

Mix the flour, salt and water into a soft dough and rest it for 10 minutes. Divide into 3–4 pieces and roll into thin rounds.
Cook each round in a dry, hot pan for 2–3 minutes per side until cooked through and lightly charred.
While still hot, tear the bread into small pieces in a large bowl. Add the dates and half the ghee and knead firmly with your hands (or a wooden pestle) until it forms a smooth, uniform dough.
Shape it into a mound on a serving plate and press a well in the centre.
Fill the well with the remaining ghee, warmed, and the honey. Serve warm.

How to make it lighter

A 200 g portion is about 520 kcal — it is very filling, so a smaller share of 100–120 g goes a long way.
Halve the ghee in the well: 1 tbsp of ghee is about 120 kcal and the honey still carries the flavour.
Let the dates do the sweetening and drizzle 1 tbsp of honey instead of filling the well (1 tbsp honey ≈ 60 kcal).

History

Areeka is a traditional dish of the south of Saudi Arabia, especially the Asir region, and is also made in neighbouring Yemen. It is commonly served at breakfast, to guests and on cold days, as well as on special occasions.

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Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →