🍲 Saltah

Name: Saltah
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Yemen · Sana’a
Ingredients: 1 litre lamb broth; 2 tbsp ground fenugreek, soaked in water for 2 hours; 2 potatoes, cubed; 3 tomatoes, grated; 60 g cooked rice; 2 eggs; 2 green chilies; 1 bunch cilantro; 1 onion, chopped, 1 tbsp oil, salt

Origin: Yemen · Sana’a

436kcal

per serving · 400 g

109kcal

per 100 g

28 gProtein7 g / 100 g

20 gFat5 g / 100 g

36 gCarbs9 g / 100 g

Saltah is Yemen’s national dish: a bubbling stew of lamb broth with potato, tomato and rice, served in a scorching stone pot and crowned with a frothy, slightly bitter fenugreek foam called hulba. An egg is often cracked into the stew and a spicy green chili and cilantro relish is stirred in. It is thick, savoury, aromatic and eaten piping hot at lunchtime.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

✓

Low-carb9 g carbs per 100 g

Not vegetarianbecause of: lamb broth

Not veganbecause of: lamb broth, egg

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Eggs

What it is made of

lamb brothfenugreektomatopotatoeggricechili peppercilantro

Recipe

4 servings60 min

Ingredients

1 litre lamb broth
2 tbsp ground fenugreek, soaked in water for 2 hours
2 potatoes, cubed
3 tomatoes, grated
60 g cooked rice
2 eggs
2 green chilies
1 bunch cilantro
1 onion, chopped, 1 tbsp oil, salt

Method

Whip the soaked fenugreek with a little cold water until it turns into a pale, airy foam; set aside.
For the relish, blend 1 chili and half the cilantro with a pinch of salt.
Fry the onion in the oil, add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, then add the broth and potatoes and simmer for 20 minutes.
Stir in the rice and the remaining chopped chili and cilantro and bring to a fierce boil in a heavy pot.
Crack in the eggs and stir lightly until just set, spoon the fenugreek foam on top and serve bubbling with the relish.

How to make it lighter

Skim the fat from the lamb broth after chilling it — the stew becomes much lighter.
Use one egg instead of two and add extra tomato and potato for volume.
Keep the rice amount small; the broth and fenugreek foam are filling on their own.

History

Saltah is closely associated with Sana’a and the northern highlands, where it is the classic midday meal, traditionally served in a heavy stone pot (maqla). The name is often linked to the Turkish word for salad, a trace of Ottoman presence in Yemen, though this origin is not certain.

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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 →