Yemenite food: 21 dishes, jachnun, kubaneh and the soup
Yemenite cuisine: 21 dishes, from Jachnun to Kubaniyot, 13 ingredients and spices, 5 dates in the holiday calendar, and the community’s story in Israel. Every dish that has a page here is linked, with every ingredient in grams.
The dishes of Yemenite cuisine
By when they are eaten: Shabbat, holidays, everyday and the street.
Yemenite cuisine, for shabbat
9 dishes
- Jachnun: Rolled, oiled yeast dough baked in a sealed pot on low heat for about 12 hours; served with grated tomato, a hard-boiled egg and zhug
- Kubaneh: Crumbly pull-apart yeast bread baked overnight in a sealed pot; comes in a meat version (marqiya) and a dairy version (samniya)
- Kubaniyot: Small kubaneh rolls; a recipe of about 180 minutes from Bishulim (Osem)
- Yemenite meat (shank) soup: Clear soup seasoned with soup hawaij and simmered for hours; served with hilbeh, zhug, and lahoh or saluf. Link to our dish page: Yemenite beef soup
- Yemenite chicken soup: A recipe of about 240 minutes from Bishulim (Osem); soup hawaij, coriander and garlic
- Fatut: Pieces of bread or pastry soaked in broth, with hilbeh or an egg; a sweet version with samna and honey
- Hilbeh: Froth of soaked fenugreek seeds, served with soup
- Shawiya: Roast meat in a reduced sauce, eaten with arak or wine
- Ja'ala: A platter of fruit and nuts served before the Shabbat meal
Yemenite cuisine, for holidays
4 dishes
- Zum: A dish of cheese, flour and samna eaten after Yom Kippur
- Aseed: Cooked dough served with butter and honey; appears in Google search questions ('what is Yemenite aseeda')
- Mandi: Rice and meat cooked in a clay-lined pit or in a tandoor
- Sabaya: Sweet layered pastry, baked for holidays
Yemenite cuisine, everyday
7 dishes
- Lahoh: Spongy yeast pancake with bubbles on one side, cooked on one side only; served with soup or spreads
- Saluf: Flatbread baked in a tabun; sold hot at HaTikva Market
- Zhug: Hot pepper, garlic and coriander sauce, green or red
- Salta: Meat and vegetable stew regarded as Yemen's national dish
- Zlabiya: Sweet batter deep-fried in oil
- Okra in tomato sauce:
- Taroush: A mix of roasted grains and seeds for snacking
Yemenite cuisine, street food
1 dishes
- Malawach: Layered flaky dough fried in a pan, served with egg, zhug and tomato; born on the street but also eaten as a breakfast
This cuisine’s dishes in our kitchen
Each has a page with a photo, what is in it and every ingredient in grams.
The holiday calendar of Yemenite cuisine
What goes on the table on each date.
| Date | Dishes | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Shabbat morning | Jachnun, Kubaneh, Hilbeh, Zhug, Hard-boiled egg, Grated tomato | The best-known Yemenite meal in Israel |
| Shabbat or holiday eve | Soup, Ja'ala | Ja'ala before the meal |
| After Yom Kippur | Zum | |
| Passover eve | Jachnun, Shawiya | Holiday dishes are also mentioned for Passover eve |
| Shavuot | Dairy dishes | The search 'Yemenite dairy dishes' appears among Google's related searches |
Spice and ingredient glossary
The name in Hebrew, in the local language and in English, and what it is for.
| English | Local name | Hebrew | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaij for soup | حوائج | Hawaij for soup | A blend of cumin, black pepper, turmeric and cardamom |
| Hawaij for coffee | حوائج للقهوة | Hawaij for coffee | Ginger and cardamom |
| Zhug | سحاوق | Zhug | Red or green |
| Fenugreek | حلبة | Fenugreek | |
| Samna (clarified butter) | سمن | Samna (clarified butter) | Base for pastries and roasting |
| Cardamom | هيل | Cardamom | |
| Turmeric | كركم | Turmeric | |
| Cumin | كمون | Cumin | |
| Coriander | كزبرة | Coriander | |
| Garlic | ثوم | Garlic | |
| Grated tomato | طماطم | Grated tomato | The standard accompaniment to jachnun and kubaneh |
| Laban | لبن | Laban | |
| Sesame oil | Sesame oil | (Chlid Jiljilan) |
Techniques and vessels
How it is cooked, and in what.
Tabun
Clay oven for flatbread (saluf, lahoh)
Overnight low baking
Jachnun and kubaneh in a sealed pot, about 12 hours
Sealed kubaneh pot
Tall pot with an airtight lid
Tandoor / clay pit
For mandi; meat and rice cooked in sealed heat
Pan frying
Malawach and lahoh
Deep frying
Zlabiya
Whipping hilbeh
Soaking and grinding with water until frothy
Long simmering
Soups
Regions and variants
The same dish, another city, another taste.
| Region | What is special |
|---|---|
| Sanaa | Ottoman influence |
| Aden and Mukalla | Indian influence |
| Lahij, Shar'ab, Aden | Origin of jachnun and malawach |
| Haban, Tihama, Hadramawt | Further regions |
Yemenite cuisine in Israel
How they came
First wave 1881-1882 (about 150 people); about 5,000 Yemenites in the country by 1914; Operation On Wings of Eagles (Magic Carpet) June 1949 to September 1950, about 50,000 people
Where they settled
Petah Tikva (Mahane Yehuda), Rehovot (Sha'arayim), Yavne'el, Rishon LeZion and Hadera before 1914; the Yemenite Quarter in Tel Aviv was founded in 1906; after 1950, transit camps and moshavim
Markets and places
Kerem HaTeimanim, the Yemenite Quarter (Tel Aviv): Founded in 1906 on land owned by Aharon Chelouche, Yosef Moyal and Haim Amzalag; settled mainly by Yemenites from Jerusalem. Yemenite restaurants and singing evenings ('haflot') grew up there. HaTikva Market: Opened at the start of the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt; a Yemenite bakery, kubbeh and cookie shops, a market of the Jewish communities. Carmel Market: Borders the Yemenite Quarter.
Yemenite cuisine in numbers
Yemenite origin in Israel
Baking jachnun
Yemenite chicken soup on Bishulim (Osem)
Neighbouring cuisines
The same pots, other spices.
Iraqi (Iraqi-Jewish) cuisine
19 dishes, a spice glossary, a holiday calendar and the story in Israel.
To the pageMoroccan (Moroccan-Jewish) cuisine
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To the pageSyrian (Aleppo and Damascus Jewish) and Lebanese cuisine
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To the pageTunisian and Tripolitan (Libyan-Jewish) cuisine
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To the pageFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between jachnun and kubaneh?
Jachnun is a rolled, oiled dough without yeast, while kubaneh is a pull-apart yeast bread baked as a single loaf. Both are baked overnight in a sealed pot. Kubaneh comes in a meat version (marqiya) and a dairy version (samniya).
How long do you bake jachnun?
About 12 hours on low heat. Home recipes shorten it to a few hours in the oven, but the classic flavour needs a full night.
What do you eat with jachnun?
Grated tomato, the hard-boiled egg that cooked alongside it, zhug and hilbeh.
What is hawaij?
A Yemenite spice blend. There is hawaij for soup (cumin, black pepper, turmeric, cardamom) and hawaij for coffee (ginger and cardamom).
What is hilbeh and how is it eaten?
A sharp, bitter froth made from soaked fenugreek seeds, usually served alongside soup.
What is the difference between malawach and lahoh?
Malawach is layered flaky dough fried in a pan; lahoh is a spongy yeast pancake cooked on one side only.
Which Yemenite foods suit Shabbat?
Jachnun, kubaneh, beef or chicken soup with hilbeh and zhug, shawiya, and ja'ala before the meal.
What is eaten after Yom Kippur in the Yemenite tradition?
Zum: a dish of cheese, flour and samna.
Is Yemenite food spicy?
The soup and breads are mild; the heat comes from the zhug, served on the side.
Where can you eat Yemenite food in Tel Aviv?
In the Yemenite Quarter and HaTikva Market, and in restaurants such as HaTeimani BaKerem.
A meal from this cuisine, for a team or an event
How many people, when and what they like. We come back with a proposal.