Yemeni Shafut with Yogurt and Bread
Shafut is eaten cold after resting an hour in the fridge — the bread needs time to absorb the seasoned yogurt. Served immediately it is just wet bread; left beyond 3 hours it turns to paste.
- Prep
- 75 min
- Cook
- —
- Total
- 75 min
- Calories
- 260
Shafut is one of the best-known Ramadan dishes in Yemen, served cold after breaking the fast. Lahoh bread soaked in yogurt blended with coriander, green chilli and garlic. Refreshing, light, and made in fifteen minutes.
Method
-
1
The yogurt blend
Blend the yogurt, milk, coriander, parsley, chilli, garlic, salt and cumin until it is pale green and smooth.
⏱ 6 min -
2
Taste
Taste it — it should be saltier and spicier than you expect, because the bread will absorb it and dilute the flavour.
⏱ 2 min -
3
Cut the bread
Cut the bread into squares or medium strips. Thin bread is better — thick bread drinks the entire mixture.
⏱ 5 min -
4
Layer
In a deep dish: a layer of bread → yogurt mixture → bread → mixture, until it is used up. The last layer should be yogurt.
⏱ 5 min -
5
Rest
Cover and refrigerate for an hour — that is the window in which the bread absorbs without disintegrating.
⏱ 60 min -
6
Serve
Scatter the olive oil, tomato and coriander and serve cold.
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Tips that actually matter
- Exactly one hour in the fridge — less and it is wet bread, more and it is paste.
- Season the blend more strongly than you think, because the bread dilutes it.
- Thin bread. Thick bread drinks everything and leaves the dish dry.
- A perfect Ramadan dish — refreshing and rehydrating after the fast.
People also ask
What is lahoh bread?
A thin Yemeni fermented bread full of holes, similar to Sudanese kisra and injera. If unavailable, thin tortilla or thin flatbread works.
Is the dish spicy?
It is usually made hot from the green chilli. Reduce or omit it if you prefer — the coriander and garlic carry the main flavour.
Can I make it ahead?
Prepare the yogurt blend ahead (it keeps two days), and assemble the dish exactly one hour before serving.
Cook mode
Yemeni Shafut with Yogurt and Bread
-
1
The yogurt blend
Blend the yogurt, milk, coriander, parsley, chilli, garlic, salt and cumin until it is pale green and smooth.
-
2
Taste
Taste it — it should be saltier and spicier than you expect, because the bread will absorb it and dilute the flavour.
-
3
Cut the bread
Cut the bread into squares or medium strips. Thin bread is better — thick bread drinks the entire mixture.
-
4
Layer
In a deep dish: a layer of bread → yogurt mixture → bread → mixture, until it is used up. The last layer should be yogurt.
-
5
Rest
Cover and refrigerate for an hour — that is the window in which the bread absorbs without disintegrating.
-
6
Serve
Scatter the olive oil, tomato and coriander and serve cold.
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