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Trit Bel-Laban is Aleppine dish that uses pieces of fresh flatbread as a foundation upon which various ingredients “yogurt, eggs, meat” are added on top. It can be served as a breakfast or dinner.

Let’s make Trit Bel-Laban:

Before talking about the method of making Trit Bel-Laban, I’ll tell you some information about the yogurt itself.

In Syria, we have special yogurt we name it “Laban Arabi” which is made from sheep milk, and we have “Laban Baqari” which is made from cow milk. In cooking, we use only “Laban Arabi” which is from sheep milk. If you want to cook yogurt sauce, and you have yogurt made from cow milk so this yogurt is not from sheep milk i,e not “Laban Arabi”, Please see what will happen during cooking ! Look at these pictures (A, B and C) and read carefully.

A. This yogurt is not “Laban Arabi”, when you add it to the pot and turn on heat, and stir it, it curdles and this is not good for cooking the yogurt.

B. This is the same yogurt I used in “A”, but here combine yogurt + cornflour (cornstarch), then turn on heat and stir, so it doesn’t curdle, and that’s what we want for cooking.

C. This is “Laban Arabi”, In the pot there is only “Laban Arabi”. Turn on heat and stir, the result that it doesn’t curdle and that’s what we want for cooking.

The conclusion:

If you use “Laban Arabi” which is from sheep milk, you don’t need the cornflour (cornstarch), or any other thing, the yogurt itself is perfect for cooking.

If you use other type of yogurt, you need to add cornflour (cornstarch) to prevent curdling. In picture “B”, I used 3/4 cup yogurt + 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch).

Let’s make Trit Bel-Laban:

1, 2,3, 4, 5, 6. Cut the Arabic flat bread into small triangles and arrange in a circular pattern on the plate, with the pointy end facing out and the light side up. Set aside.

7,8. In a pan, heat 1 teaspoon ghee.

9, 10, 11, 12. Add ground meat to ghee, and cook with constant stirring until brown.

13. Season meat with 1/4 teaspoon salt.

14. Turn off heat, and season meat with 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. I always add black pepper after turning off heat.

15, 16. Measure one cup (230 g) yogurt.

17, 18. Pour the yogurt into a bowl, then add 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt to yogurt, and stir.

19. Pour the yogurt into a saucepan, and place it over low heat.

20, 21. Stir constantly using a wooden spoon until yogurt becomes hot, do not boil it, and then turn off heat.

22, 23. Crack two eggs into a bowl, and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt.

24. Whisk eggs using a fork.

25, 26. In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon ghee and bring it to high heat.

27, 28. Pour in eggs.

29, 30, 31, 32. During frying the egg, use a spoon and move eggs constantly to cook them, consider not turning the cooked eggs into pieces.

Assembly

33.  Bring the bread.

34. Spoon the yogurt.

35. Top with the fried eggs. Sprinkle the eggs with pinch of black pepper.

36.  Top with the meat. Sprinkle with pinch of al-bhar al-halabi (bhar al-daqqa al-halabi).

37. Serve immediately. Trit Bel-Laban is eaten by hand, scooped with the pieces of bread that have absorbed the yogurt. Serve with spring onions.

Trit Bel-Laban

From: Different Sources/ Servings: 3 People
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1 loaf (100 g) Arabic flat bread, cut into small triangles 1 tsp ghee, for meat 150 g fat free ground lamb meat 1/4 tsp salt, for meat 1/8 tsp black pepper 1 cup (230 g) yogurt 1/2 tsp crushed garlic 1/4 tsp salt, for yogurt 2 large eggs 1/4 tsp salt, for eggs 1 tablespoon ghee, for eggs preferably Samneh Arabi (Syrian ghee made from sheep’s milk) Pinch of black pepper Pinch of al-bhar al-halabi To Serve Spring onions

Cut the Arabic flat bread into small triangles and arrange in a circular pattern on the plate, with the pointy end facing out and the light side up. Set aside. In a pan, heat 1 teaspoon ghee. Add ground meat to ghee, and cook with constant stirring until brown. Season meat with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Turn off heat, and season meat with 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. I always add black pepper after turning off heat. Measure one cup (230 g) yogurt. Pour the yogurt into a bowl, then add 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt to yogurt, and stir. Pour the yogurt into a saucepan, and place it over low heat. Stir constantly using a wooden spoon until yogurt becomes hot, do not boil it, and then turn off heat. Crack two eggs into a bowl, and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk eggs using a fork. In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon ghee and bring it to high heat. Pour in eggs. During frying the egg, use a spoon and move eggs constantly to cook them, consider not turning the cooked eggs into pieces. Assembly Bring the bread. Spoon the yogurt. Top with the fried eggs. Sprinkle the eggs with pinch of black pepper. Top with the meat. Sprinkle with pinch of al-bhar al-halabi (bhar al-daqqa al-halabi). Serve immediately. Trit Bel-Laban is eaten by hand, scooped with the pieces of bread that have absorbed the yogurt. Serve with spring onions.

Notes and Tips

Here is a larger photo for the arrangement of bread triangles. I used 10 triangles only. 

Some people make Trit Bel-Laban with meatballs. All you have to do is to season ground meat with salt and al-bhar al-halabi (bhar al-daqqa al-halabi) then shape the meat into balls, and then follow all the steps similar to this recipe.

If you don’t have “Laban Arabi”, so you have to add cornflour (cornstarch) to the yogurt to prevent curdling.

For eggs, I’ve used “Samneh Arabi” (Syrian ghee made from sheep’s milk) which is preferred as it gives unique taste, but of course you can substitute it with any ghee you have.

Keep in mind that when you assemble the dish, everything should be hot except the bread, so you may need to reheat the meat and the yogurt while you are frying the eggs.

Click here for the recipe of Al-Bhar Al-Halabi.

Watch this video of “Chef Mohammad Orfali” making “Trit Bel-Laban”.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 27th, 2016 at 7:09 PM and is filed under Syrian Cooking, To Aleppo With Love. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.