African, Bread, Sides, Somali, Vegetarian

Ceesh

Posted by Lorin Black on
A stack of freshly made flatbreads on a white plate, with one flatbread partially folded and torn open on the top.
A plate of fresh ceesh.

In Somalia, fuul is a staple in breakfast food. It is often served with eggs, khubz/ceesh bread or the traditional Somali flatbread called laxoox/canjeero. It is very similar to the Egyptian, Sudanese, and Saudi variants of the dish, but usually spicier due to Somalis’ use of the xawaash spice mixture (cumin, coriander, sage, peppercorn, fenugreek, turmeric, ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and saffron).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ful_medames

Khubz (Arabic: خبز, romanized: khubz) is the usual word for “bread” in Standard Arabic and in many of the vernaculars. Among the breads popular in Middle Eastern countries are “pocket” pita bread in the Levant and Egypt, and the flat tannur bread in Iraq.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khubz

Ceesh (pronounced something like aeesh) is the Somali version of pita bread, which I made to eat with my latest ful medames recipe. Fresh, homemade bread is definitely tastier than store-bought pita.

I don’t know why I think this, but my impression is that in much of the Middle East, pita is more commonly bought from a bakery than made at home. Most pita recipes I’ve tried in the past try to mimic the conditions of a commercial pita oven with something like a pizza stone in an oven cranked up to max. It works, but it maybe isn’t something most people want to mess around with every day.

The ceesh recipes I looked at, however, mostly get around that problem by cooking the bread on the stovetop, very much like some of the indian flatbreads like naan or chapati that I made a year or so ago. I’m guessing that there aren’t a whole lot of bakeries in Somalia, so bread is more commonly made at home, which may or may not have an oven.

The dough is a pretty basic yeasted dough. Some recipes called for milk, some called for water. One or two even used both, which is what I did. Feel free to use all milk if you like, or leave it out entirely for a vegan bread.

Some of the recipes I looked at cooked the bread in a dry pan (which is what I did), while others added a little oil when they flipped the ceesh to get a nice golden brown fried crust on the bread. I chose to rub the hot bread with butter to keep it soft. Some recipes added garlic powder or herbs to the butter, while others added them to the dough. Feel free to tweak the recipe to reflect your tastes!

A mixture of flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a mixing bowl.
Measure flour, sugar, yeast, and salt into a bowl and mix well.
A transparent measuring cup filled with a mixture of milk and water, resting on a wooden surface.
Mix milk and water…
A mixing bowl containing a thick, wet dough mixture with flour and other ingredients, stirred with a wooden spoon.
and add to the flour. Mix until a rough dough forms.
Close-up of a ball of dough with oil poured over the top, in a mixing bowl.
Add the olive oil…
A hand kneading dough in a metal bowl coated with flour and oil.
and knead it in.
A ball of dough resting on a wooden surface, surrounded by scattered flour.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface…
A ball of dough resting in a metal mixing bowl.
and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
a bowl covered with a white cloth on a dark surface.
Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a clean towel, and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
A hand pressing down into soft dough in a mixing bowl.
Punch down the dough…
A hand holding a ball of dough, and pinching off a smaller ball, above a wooden countertop, with flour scattered around.
and pinch off small balls of dough.
Seven round balls of dough resting on a wooden surface, with a light dusting of flour.
Form each piece of dough into a neat ball.
A round, flattened piece of dough resting on a wooden surface.
Roll out each ball into a thin circle.
Seven round pieces of dough laid out on a wooden countertop, with a cloth and kitchen utensils in the background.
Set aside to rest for a few minutes, coved with a clean towel.
A round of raw dough placed in a cast iron skillet, ready for cooking.
Place a skillet over medium heat and add one piece of dough to the hot pan.
Raw dough disc in a hot frying pan, showing small air bubbles forming on the surface.
When the bread is covered with bubbles…
A golden-brown flatbread cooking in a skillet, showcasing a round shape with slight char marks.
and speckled with golden brown, flip the bread.
A skillet on a stovetop with a freshly cooked flatbread being pressed on one edge with a spatula, while the other edge puffs up.
Gently press on the edges to encourage the bread to puff.
A cooked flatbread resting in a cast iron skillet, fully puffed and showcasing a golden-brown crust with charred spots.
When the bread is fully puffed…
A golden-brown flatbread being cooked on a cast iron skillet.
and spotted with golden brown on both sides…
A hand rubbing a cube of butter on a warm, slightly charred flatbread on a white plate.
remove from the pan and immediately rub with butter.
A bowl of ful medames topped with a halved boiled egg, accompanied by pieces of flat bread.
Serve with your favorite Somali foods, like ful medames.
Ceesh, step by step

Ceesh

Yield: 6-8
Mixing: 15 minutes
Rolling and cooking: ~40 minutes
Rising: 1 hour
Total: ~2 hours

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
¼ cup milk
1 Cup lukewarm water
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Butter

Optional:
1 ⅓ cups whole wheat flour, in place of an equal amount of all purpose
Ghee, in place of olive oil
Yogurt, in place of milk
Garlic powder
Dry parsley in the dough
1 large egg
Fresh parsley, mixed with butter to brush on cooked ceesh
~1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Oil, to fry bread, instead of rubbing with butter. 

Combine flour, salt, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Combine milk and water and add to the flour mixture. Mix until a rough dough forms, adding small amounts of flour as needed. Once you have a workable dough, add olive oil and knead it in. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for 10 minutes (or 5 minutes in a stand mixer with a dough hook). Lightly oil the bowl and place the dough ball back in it, turning to coat all sides. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for 50 minutes to an hour, until doubled. 

Lightly punch down the dough and give it a quick knead. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of an egg, and form them into neat balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a circle about 6-7 inches in diameter. Set aside and cover with a clean towel to rest for about 10 minutes, while you work the remaining dough, keeping track of the order you roll them in. 

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Starting with the first piece of dough, place it in the dry skillet and cook until bubbles form on the surface, and the bottom is speckled with golden brown. Flip it over and continue to cook, moving it around and pressing down on the edges to encourage it to puff. When the bottom is nicely golden, flip it again if necessary to brown the other side. The whole process should take 3-4 minutes. 

Remove to a plate and rub with butter while still warm. Alternatively, you can drizzle a little oil in the pan when you flip the bread, for a golden fried crust. 

For a more Arab style pita, you can bake the rounds on a pizza stone or baking sheet in a 500F oven for 2-3 minutes, until puffed. 

One Comment Add yours

  1. Pingback: Somali Ful Medames – Lorin cooks Legumes

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.