Meloui (Melwy)!


How to fold and shape Moroccan Melwy (Malwy)! Round Moroccan Layered Crepes!

 Comment façonner le Meloui (Malwi ou Maloui) Marocain, ce sont des crêpes rondes bien feuilletées!
مْلْوي   

Melwy  =مْلْوي  means in Moroccan Darija  "Rolled dough" = "La pâte roulée" in French.  It is another traditional, typical Moroccan West Crepe.  It is made in the same basic way as Msamen and Rziza, except that Melwy has much more layers, due to its snail shape.  The main ingredients of a traditional Moroccan Melwy base are made from hard unbleached flour all puprose, fine semolina, water, yeast, pure olive oil, Oudi (only, if you like the taste), some butter and salt to taste.  Like Msamen, Meloui slightly rises up during baking due to the use of fine semolina and butter between layers, and also from the air that gets trapped between the layers. When cooked, Melwy becomes so light, tender and soft. Really delicious!

Traditionally, Melwy is served during Ramadan or occasionally for breakfasts or for afternoon snacks.  It is served with a sauce of butter-honey, or Amlou, or plain, or with jam, or peanut butter, or chocolate spread etc..  Melwy can also be stuffed with anything, but most popular filling is L'5li3 (L'khli3 or Khlii = الخْليعْ, which  is a sort of "Dried preserved meat", cooked and mixed with onion, garlic and some dried or fresh herbs etc.. and it could be eaten at any time of the day.


Here are a few keys to make a perfect Moroccan Melwy:

1-Don’t make the dough too wet. Don't add the water at once, add it as slowly as you can. Pour about 30 ml to 40 ml then fold and knead the dough, then add about the same quantity of water, fold and knead etc.... by adding only small quantity of water, the dough gets tacky, sticks to itself and the water incorporates easily! The dough should feel relatively firm and strong.
2-Use only butter and fine semolina during the folding and shaping of Meloui. Don't use oil or margarine.
3-Use parchment paper (or baking paper or baking mat) for rolling and shaping Melwy. I don't even spray the parchment paper with oil and the dough doesn't stick at all.
4-Add some white or plain flour to the flour mixture.
5- Some prefer not to use yeast, but I highly recommend that you not omit yeast from this recipe, but don't put too much to avoid the risk of over-yeasting the dough.  To give you an idea the amount of yeast, I used in this recipe : for 650 gr flour, I added in LESS THAN 1 gr YEAST (+/- 0.3 gr).  Remember this is a crepe and not bread!
6-Add some butter (or Oudi  or both of them), some honey (or sugar), and olive oil to the dough.
7-Knead it as long as it takes until it reaches an elastic consistency.  This is very important detail.  Like Rziza, Kneading the dough for a LONG time will help to develop the thing they call "Gluten", and it seems that this "thing", which makes the dough elastic. If you don't like kneading, you may use any bread machine or a bowl of a stand mixer or food processor etc.... and it is practically impossible to over-knead the dough destined to be shaped into  Msamen or  Melwy or Rziza.  So don't be scared to knead the dough as long as possible. Personally, I use hands to knead the Melwy dough because I need to feel it, but once you become familiar with these crepes, it becomes naturally a matter of feel, however I would say 20 to 30 minutes of strong kneading is usually the target to make this dough.

Here are some photos of Moroccan Melwy (Meloui), to show you how it looks like! Hmmmm....Delicious!



Here is the recipe how to prepare Meloui dough:
 Comment préparer la pâte de Meloui:


This recipe yields 14 Melouis (Melwiyat), small ones or 7 medium ones, if that is too many then the recipe can be halved / Pour 14 Melouis ou Melwiyats de taille petite ou 7 de taille moyenne, vous pouvez couper les ingrédients en 2 si vous désirez.

Ingredients:

-600 gr  hard unbleached flour all puprose or fine semolina / 600 gr de farine de blé dur non blanchi ou semoule très fine

-50 gr strong white flour / 50 gr de farine blanche

-Some salt to taste / Un peu de sel selon le goût

-Pinch of dried yeast (Don't put too much, I put less than 1 gr) / Une pincée de levure boulangère sèche (Surtout, ne pas mettre trop de levure, j'ai mis moins qu'1 gr)

-2 tablespoons pure olive oil / 2 c à  soupe d'huile d'olive de bonne qualité

-3 tablespoons unsalted soft butter / 3 c à  soupe de beurre non-salé mou

-1 tablespoon Oudi  / 1 c à  soupe d'Oudi 

-About 370 ml warm water / Environ 370 ml d'eau tiède

-1 tablespoon honey or caster sugar (Known as Sanida in Morocco)  /  1 c à  soupe de miel ou sucre semoule (Qu'on apelle Sanida au Maroc)

What you need to shape and fold Meloui 
Dont vous aurez besoin pour le façonnage de Meloui:

-About 2 tablespoons fine semolina / Environ 2 c à  soupe de semoule très fine

-About 150 ml unsalted-melted butter / Environ 150 ml de beurre non-salé et fondu
-Parchment paper or baking paper or baking mat / Du papier parchemin ou papier cuisson ou tapis de silicone

You might need to add more butter or fine semolina


Si nécessaire, ajouter plus de beurre et de la semoule fine


 How to make the dough : / Préparation de la pâte:

-Mix all the ingredients in a Kasriya or a large bowl, then gradually add water and using your hands and knuckles knead the dough nicely for 20 to 30 minutes or continue to knead it until the dough becomes soft, easy to knead and pliable. But it shouldn't be sticky.  This process of kneading is very important since Meloui will be soft if the dough is well kneaded.  Add more water or flour if necessary. Coat the dough with 1 or 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, cover it and let it rest for 20 minutes.  /  Mélanger tous les ingrédients dans une Kasria ou un grand bol, former une pâte en ajoutant graduellement de l'eau tiède. Bien pétrir vigoureusement la pâte entre 20 à 30 minutes.  Former une pâte lisse, homogène, consistante, souple et facile à manier. C'est la durée du pétrissage qui texture la pâte alors il est important de pétrir pendant au moins 20 minutes!  Utiliser 1 ou 2 c à  soupe d'huile végétale pour huiler légèrement la pâte.  Couvrir et laisser reposer environ 20 minutes.
 How to shape and fold Meloui / Comment façonner Meloui:

1-Form the dough into equal balls.  How big should they be? This I guess would depend on the final Meloui you want to achieve, is it small, medium or big! / Former des boules égales de la pâte dont la taille définera la taille de votre Meloui cuit, i.e grand, moyen ou petit!
2-Roll each ball in your hands to form small sausages.  Don't forget to use melted butter while rolling. / Etirer chaque boule en un long boudin. Il faut beurrer les mains en les étirant.
3-Place parchment paper on you work surface, no need to put oil, melted butter or flour on it, the dough won't stick. Then take one sausage dough and start to stretch and flatten it into a long snake-like strip and it should be thin, transparent and narrow. You might punch a hole in the dough from time to time, do not worry, no one will see them, they will be concealed when you fold the dough. / Sur votre plan de travail, placer du papier parchemin et pas besoin de huiler ou beurrer ou fariner le papier, la pâte ne collera pas. Puis prendre un long boudin et l'aplatir sous forme d'une bande rectangulaire bien mince, transparente et étroite. Essayer de ne pas briser ou déchirer la pâte en l'étalant, mais si toutefois celà arrive, ce n'est pas grave, le côté moins esthétique sera dissimulé avec la procédure du façonnage.
4-Brush the dough with some melted butter (Use butter only, and not oil) and sprinkle with a pinch of fine semolina (don't put too much, just a little bit). / Badigeonner la pâte d'un peu de beurre fondu (Utiliser uniquement du beurre et non pas de l'huile), puis saupoudrer d'un tout petit peu de semoule fine.
5-Fold 1/2 to middle, lengthwise then brush again the dough with some melted butter and sprinkle with a pinch of fine semolina ./  Plier 1/2 de la pâte vers le centre dans la longueur, puis badigeonner d'un peu de beurre fondu et saupoudrer d'un tout petit peu de semoule fine.
6-Fold the other side of dough to middle on top of the first, lengthwise. Brush again the dough with some melted butter and sprinkle with a pinch of fine semolina. /  Plier l'autre bout vers le centre en le plaçant sur la première pâte pliée, toujours dans la longueur, puis badigeonner d'un peu de beurre fondu et saupoudrer d'un tout petit peu de semoule fine.

7-Starting from the bottom, roll the dough up, flattening the dough to keep it free from air bubbles as you are rolling it ./ En partant du bas, enrouler la pâte sur elle-même, et la rabattre délicatement pour chasser tout air.
8-Pinch loose end of the dough onto the roll to seal it.  Repeat the process for all of the dough. Set the rolls upright on the parchment paper and allow to rest for 15 minutes, during which, try to flatten the tops slightly as the rolls rest, this will helps them to retain their nice rolled shape and wouldn't  fall apart. / Prendre l'autre fin du bout de la pâte et placer-le au milieu pour bien sceller le rouleau.  Placer les rouleaux Melouis sur le papier parchemin et laisser reposer 15 minutes.  Durant ce temps, essayer de les aplatir délicatement, de temps en temps pour qu'ils gardent leurs belles formes et pour qu'ils ne se détachent pas.

How to cook Meloui :/ Faire cuire Meloui

1-Heat a heavy non-stick frying pan over medium heat. / Sur un feu moyen, faire chauffer une poêle anti-adhésive assez lourde.

2-Start to flatten your first round Meloui on the parchment paper.  It is important to work in order, i.e. you have to start cooking the first rolls you shaped, so that each roll would have been given enough time to rest and relax! / Commencer à aplatir le premier rouleau de Meloui confectionné pour donner aux autres rouleaux leur part de temps de repos.

3-Press with your palm to flatten the round Meloui, repeat this until it becomes thin as possible without breaking the dough or punching a hole. / Toujour sur le papier parchemin et avec la paume de la main, aplatir le rouleau de Meloui aussi mince que possible. Procéder délicatement pour éviter de déchirer la pâte.

4-Place the round Meloui in the heated pan and let it cook for about 1 minute then turn it over, using a spatula (Don't wait until it is cooked on one side to turn it).  Keep turning it over and over several times, until golden brown.  Do not use any grease (oil, butter, etc.) since there is enough butter inside each Melloui, so all that butter used to shape it will melt quickly once it warms up. / Déposer Meloui sur la poêle bien chaude, puis laisser cuire environ 1 minute, et tourner-le immédiatement avec une spatule.  Il ne faut pas attendre que Meloui soit complètement cuit sur un côté pour le tourner.  Tourner-le plusieurs fois durant la cuisson.  N'ajouter aucune matière grasse puisque tout le beurre utilisé durant le façonnage va fondre tout simplement, et se transformer en huile dans lequel Meloui sera cuit.

5-Keep turning it several times, until it is cooked and golden.  It will slightly puff up during baking as it fills with air. That's good news! / Tourner-le fréquemment jusqu'à qu'il soit cuit et bien doré.  Durant la cuisson, il va légèrement gonfler. C'est un bon signe, ceci veut dire que votre Meloui sera bien feuilleté!
6-Do not flatten the Meloui until you are ready to cook it.  Use 2 pans to go faster. / N'aplatir le Meloui que lorsque vous êtes prêt(e) à le faire cuire. Utiliser 2 poêles pour aller plus vite.

7-Store the cooked Meloui between kitchen towels to keep warm./ Couvrir Meloui avec un torchon propre pour les garder au chaud.

8-Enjoy. Serve with honey , or Amlou, or maple syrup or chocolate spread etc.../ Bssa7a w ra7a!  Servir avec du miel, Amlou, sirop d'érable, tartinade  au chocolat etc...!

Here you can see those lovely layers! / Vous pouvez voir ici ce beau feuilletage du Meloui!

Stuffed Meloui / Meloui Farci

Stuffed Meloui can be either cooked on a frying pan over medium heat or baked in the oven / Meloui farci peut être cuit soit dans une poêle sur un feu moyen ou dans le four.

Use the same technique of folding and shaping but no need to use semolina. / Même principe de façonnage sauf que vous n'aurez pas besoin d'utiliser la semoule dans cette version de Meloui. 

This is Meloui stuffed with Cheese, Cachere and onions / Voici Meloui f farci aux oignons, cachere et fromage

Ceci est un Meloui Farci aux Epinards et Olives Noires! Servi avec du Saumon et Sauce aux Poivrons/Tomates!





Thanks for stopping by my site! 
Mamatkamal


Comments

Nadji said…
Tu m'invites Quand?
Tes mellouis Magnifiques sont.
Je Vais version ta essayer.
A bientôt Tres.
Bergamot said…
This is similar to the malabar paratha that is served in south India, the only difference is that it is unleavened. I like the idea of stuffing the meloui this is make is rather unique.
A fabulous speciality! I really have to try making my own as I'd love to know what meloui taste like.

Bises et bon WE,

Rosa
Erin said…
This is amazing! I love Morocco and its cuisine. I tried my hand at using Moroccan spices to create nice dishes and my family loves the combination and scent of all flavors. Thanks for this great site about Morocco.
Erin