Yemen’s National Dish: Saltah سَلْتَة

Yemen’s National Dish is, for sure, saltah سَلْتَه. Other popular dishes in Yemen are Bint as-sahn بِنْت الصَّحْن , sousi سُوسِي , and shafoot / shafout شَفُوت. These dishes are peculiar to Yemeni cuisine. While these are popular on special days and occasions, people in Yemen eat saltah سَلْتَة every day. They always eat it as the main dish for lunch. So, what is saltah سَلْتَة and how do Yemenis make it?

What is the origin of the word Saltah سَلْتَة ?

The word saltah سَلْتَة is derived from the Arabic root salata سَلَتَ ‘to eat and lick eagerly.’ By way of derivation in Arabic, we say سَلَتَ , يَسْلِتُ, سَلْتًا  and the food ‘being carefully extracted from the boiling hot pot and eagerly eaten and licked’ is سَلْتَة. This means that having this dish involves a lot of ‘eager licking’ since people typically eat it while it is still boiling. Besides, it is ensured that boiling and high heat stay for as long as possible. 

For this reason, Yemen’s National Dish: Saltah سَلْتَة, is always served in a pot of clay or stone which is called Haradhah حَرَضَة  or maqlaa مَقْلَى (henceforth pot). The Haradhah حَرَضَة tends to be smaller than maqlaa مَقْلَى. Although modern thick steel pots are lately used, locally-made Haradhah حَرَضَة  and مَقْلى are always preferred. Therefore, saltah سَلْتَة that is not served in a pot حَرَضَة is not really saltah سَلْتَة by traditional Yemeni food standards.

Ingredients and Preparation of Yemen’s National Dish: Saltah سَلْتَة

Typically, saltah سَلْتَة is almost a vegie dish. Its basic ingredients are حُلْبَة ‘fenugreek’, مَرَق concentrated consommé soup, بَطَاطَا potatoes, بَيْضَة an egg, بِسْبَاس (in Yemeni dialect) green chili pepper (or فُلْفُل حَار in MSA), كُرَّاث or بَيْعَة (in Yemeni dialect) ‘leek’, ثُوْم  ‘garlic’, طَمَاطِم  ‘tomatoes’, and مِلْح ‘salt’. People add other spices based on their taste. Prior to the actual making of Saltah سَلْتَة, three mixtures are to be prepared separately.

The mixture of fenugreek حُلْبَة and leek كُرَّاث:

First, we sprinkle two to three spoons of طَحِينُ الْحُلْبَة ‘fenugreek flour’ in water and leave it for two to three hours. Then, we fully dribble the water. After that, we manually beat/stir the soaked fenugreek flour طَحِينُ الْحُلْبَة till it turns white (up to 5 minutes of vigorous beating/stirring). Some use blenders, but hand-stirred/beaten is far more delicious. Finally, we cut and pound the leek كُرَّاث till it becomes juicy, add it to the paste of fenugreek حُلْبَة, and mix it thoroughly.

The mixture of tomato puree سَحَاوِق:

سَحَاوق, derived from the verb سَحَقَ ‘to grind/crush’, is a sauce-like blend of tomatoes طَمَاطِم, garlic ثُوم, green chili بِسْبَاس, and a dash of salt. Traditionally, people in Yemen crush this mixture on a flat stone which they call مِسْحَقَة ‘a flat stone with a small round stone on which they grind/crush spices and vegetables’, see below. The flavor of ground/crushed spices and vegetable using مِسْحَقَة is always tastier than that of a blender, so people say, and so do I. 

The mixture of consommé soup مَرَق:

مَرَق is a thick broth of seasoned meat, especially beef.  Here is how to make it. First, we boil little fatty meat with bones. Then, we add chopped بَصْل أَخَضَر ‘scallion’ to makes the consommé soup مَرَق tastier and thicker. We leave it boil for two hours. After that, we add seasonings بُهَارَات, like فُلْفُل أَسْوَد ‘black pepper,’ and كَمُّون مَطْحُون  ‘cumin powder’ to the stock. Finally, we leave boil for a few minute over low heat. Besides adding it to the saltah سَلْتَة, most people drink it before lunch.  

What’s next …

First, we place the pot حَرَضَة over a fierce flame and leave it for 2 to 4 minutes until it gets extremely hot. Then, we pour the consommé soup مَرَق into the pot حَرَضَة. After that, we add chopped slices of potatoes بَطَاطَا, an egg بَيْضَة, and green chilies بِسْبَاس to the pot حَرَضَة. Then, we quickly stir, mix, and add consommé soup مَرَق as needed to prevent the mixture from burning or sticking. We leave the pot حَرَضَة on the blazing fire for two to three minutes. Finally, we add the fenugreek حُلْبَة and leek كُرَّاث mixture to the top without mixing it. Voila! 

saltah سَلْتَة is now ready, and people serve it immediately. As for the tomato puree سَحَاوق, you may add a little bit of it to the saltah سَلْتَة. Alternatively, most people leave it as a side dish and add some according to taste. So, how do Yemeni people eat it? They eat saltah سَلْتَة with خُبْز ‘bread,: خُبْز قَمْح ‘wheat bread’, خُبْز شَعِير ‘barley bread,’ كِدَم ‘a multigrain bun-like bread’, or جِحِين ‘round and thin sorghum bread’. The sorghum bread is popular in the northern regions of Yemen.

Variants of Saltah سَلْتَة:

This is how Yemen’s National Dish: Saltah سَلْتَة, is traditionally made. However, more recently, protein-rich variants of سَلْتَة have been introduced, especially in restaurants. One variant is called فَحْسَة. The word is derived from the Arabic root فَحَسَ ‘to mash.’ Essentially, the meat, which the consommé soup مَرَق  is made from, is mashed fully and added to the سَلْتَة mixture. Another variant is سَلْتَة with تُوْنَة  ‘tuna.’ Simply, a can of تُوْنَة is thrown into the mixture. The latter variant is not as popular as the former.

One reason why saltah سَلْتَة is very popular is that it is associated with Chewing Qat (more on this soon).  Over 90% of people in Yemen chew Qat. Most of them believe that Qat Chewing will not be tasty, enjoyable, and relaxing if they did not have spicy سَلْتَة for lunch.