Jingalov Haz, a delicious herbal flatbread from Armenia is considered one of the healthiest stuffed bread you might have ever seen because it is made with more than twenty different herbs and greens.
Earlier we shared some typical dishes and foods to try when visiting Kosovo. Today we head on over to another Eastern European country, Armenia, to learn about Jingalov Haz. Our friend, Maria Dokshina who loves sharing traditions cuisines like typical Finnish breakfast dishes and Russian medovik tort honey cake, shares the history, culture and recipes for Jingalov Haz, a traditional bread in Armenia which is considered by many Armenias as a bread that brings a family together.
From Maria,
In the country where people traditionally use up to 300 different herbs, it is no wonder there can be a flat bread containing around twenty different herbs. When I first heard about it from an old armenian man it was hard to believe, but not because it is impossible to put so many herbs in one pot, but as a chef I thought – it should be a great mastery to create a bouquet that provides a pleasurable and delicious experience. For instance – French bouquet Garni contains only four ingredients – parsley, bay leaf, thyme and leak, and those four work perfectly together. However, try adding mint into this mix and the whole balance will be destroyed.
Armenian women sharing the knowledge of how to collect a perfectly balanced bouquet for the Jengalov Haz to their daughters, and they – to their daughters. Non-aromatic greens contain about 50-70% of the mix – those like spinach and mangold, more aromatic herbs – 15-30% – like green onion and parsley, and only 5-10% goes to such bitter herbs like dandelion. The base can be made with herbs known throughout the globe, but the heart of the bread contains the herbs originally known as “ktsmzuk” and “hndzmandzuk” and those can probably only be found in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. This is the birthplace of Jengalov Haz, and is also known as Artsakh, is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus. The history of this place remains full of political controversy and complexity, still people living in here have their own ways to unite a big family over a long table and bring everyone together by serving a pile of long flat breads stuffed with heavenly-smelling herbal filling.
The herbs that usually go into the filling are mountain spinach (orach), horse sorrel, nettles, original sorrel, young dandelion leaves, young violet leaves, mangold (beet greens), dill, parsley, coriander, green onion, lettuce and a few more that are impossible to get the english names of.
Despite the presence of local herbs in the original recipe, it is possible to make quite a good example of this bread with the herbs you have in your local area. For this recipe particularly it was only possible to find eight varieties of greens, but the result is still somewhere similar to the original. I believe that the art of creating a perfect bouquet of greens and herbs is something every home cook should try to master. It will never be the same as in its origin even if we manage to find all the right ingredients – that is perhaps the biggest beauty of gastro travelling and trying original meals in their birth places. However, for now, we can all master our own herbal flat bread and tell our guests that it was inspired by a beautiful Armenian dish called Jingalov Haz.
Traditionally the dough consists of only 3 ingredients – wheat flour, water and salt, mixed together, divided into small balls and rolled into thin sheets, filed with the mix of herbs, gently closed and cooked on the flat pan placed over the fire called sadj.
It has a slightly round shape so that it can fit more breads at once. There is usually one man who standing in front of the fireplace and controlling the process of cooking of up to 20 pieces at once, turning them over and moving them around from hotter place to more warm ones to create evenly cooked breads. He is usually surrounded with a few children who are standing near and learning to do just the same, but also, of course they are waiting to try the freshest and most delicious Jingalov Haz before anyone else. A family of 10-20 people with close friends are sitting in front of the table filled with fresh cheese, roasted meat, a “summer salad” that consists of eggplants, bell peppers and tomatoes cooked on the barbeque, many fresh vegetables simply chopped, and of course there is also some wine and white/black mulberry spirits for adults and some sparkling estragon lemonade for kids.
The outdoor terrace where the family is spending this evening is facing the lush forest-coated mountains and the birds singing to each other that the time haven’t touched this place and everything is just the same as is was decades and decades ago. To say even more, it will probably stay this way forever until there are children who are standing near the sadj to learn how to properly cook the long flat breads filled with so many different herbs and greens that it is hard to remember them all.
Recipe for the Armenian Flatbread – Jingalov Haz
Ingredients:
- 120g of fresh arugula
- 40g of fresh parsley
- 40g of fresh dill
- 40g of fresh green onion
- 40g of fresh coriander leaves
- 20g of dried horse sorrel
- 80g of fresh lettuce
- 300g of frozen spinach
- Salt (to taste)
- 500g of wheat flour + some more for rolling the dough
- 80g of oat bran (This is something that will make your breads chewable on the next day. By adding some oat bran to the mix I reduced the gluten content and made the dough less hard)
- 350-400 ml of water
- salt (to taste)
Method:
- Prepare the greens. Soak the dried horse sorrel with a hot water, wait until is is fully soaked, then drain the liquid. Pour a hot water over the frozen spinach and let it defrost, then again, drain the liquid. Wash well, drain and chop finely all the other greens and herbs into a big mixing bowl. Chop the horse sorrel and spinach finely too and add to the mix. Add salt to taste and mix well.
- Prepare the dough. In a big mixing bowl combine all ingredients for the dough and mix well. Add more water of flour as you go if needed. Knead for 4-5 minutes, creating a soft non-sticky elastic dough. Cover with towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Form the flat bread with filling. Take a plum-sized piece of dough and roll it over a lightly floured surface into a 20-25cm round. Place 2-3 Tbsp of the green mix inside and spread it in the oval shape. Close the “wings” that are left without the filling and attach them to each other from two sides. Remove any air pockets.
- Fry over the medium-high heat on a dry pan for 2-3 minutes on each side. Enjoy with your loved ones.
Thank you Maria for this lovely recipe and insight into the cultural aspect of this dish. We loved learning how it is such a family-oriented meal where all members are involved in the making of Jingalov Haz. And what a fantastic way to get all those leafy greens in for the week!
Have you tried this Armenia herbed flatbread? Do you have a similar dish that is native to where you are?
Here is a quick video on how to assemble and shape the Jingalov Haz.
{Words and images by Maria Dokshina; Website: Planty_; Instagram: @planty_ }
