Sfiha Recipe - Middle Eastern Appetizer or Street Food - The Foreign Fork (2024)

Lahm Bi Ajeen (Sfiha) is a soft Middle Eastern flatbread topped with meat and spices. It makes a great street food, breakfast, delicious weeknight meal or an appetizer for your next get together!

“Hello Reader! I try my hardest to research recipes as best as I can before posting to ensure I am representing each culture correctly. If this recipe is from your country and I have made a mistake or you have suggestions for how to make it more authentic, I would love to hear! Please leave a comment below letting me know what should be different, and I will rework the recipe. It is always my intention to pay homage and respect to each cultural dish that I cook. Thanks for reading!”

Lahm Bi Ajeen goes by many different names. It’s “Sfiha” in Lebanon, “Esfiha” in Brazil, “Lahmacun” or “Lamhajun” in Turkey, Lebanese meat pies, Armenian pizza, Turkish pizza, Arab pizza, etc. Whatever you call it, it’s delicious.

It’s a soft dough that’s crispy around the edges and topped with ground meat that is packed with flavor. It has all the flavor and texture of a normal pizza but unlike an Italian pizza (like this margherita pizza) the ingredients are mixed together and the cheese is left off.

You can make this dish into small bite-size appetizers, a personal serving, or fill an entire baking sheet and cut into slices to easily feed a crowd. Some recipes tell you to make it flat, like a pizza, while others tell you to scrunch up the edges to hold the meat filling inside a little nest of dough.

However you decide to eat it, just don’t hesitate to give it a try. The combination of fresh dough with meat and spices has a distinct smell and taste that will leave you wanting more!

Recipe Origin

Lahm bi ajeen, also known as Sfiha, literally translates to ‘meat with dough’ but with all the various names for the same recipe across the world, it’s very difficult to know exactly where it came from.

According to Nawal Nasrallah, an Iraqi scholar and researcher, the earliest mention of lahm bi ajeen (Sfiha) was in a 13th century Syrian cookbook.

It was very popular in Armenia (as lahmajo) and Lebanon (sfiha) and slowly spread across the Middle East.

Lahm b’ajeen became a popular item on the menu in Iraqi bakeries and now it is a very popular dish not only in the Middle East but in Brazil as well. It’s often considered fast food or street food.

It’s most often served as an appetizer but can sometimes be found folded in half, like a sandwich.

Why Make This Recipe

1. Packed with Flavor: The spices mixed into the meat provides a punch of flavor that is hard to resist. Many people say this Lahm Bi Ajeen/ Sfiha recipe has a distinct smell that you can recognize from a mile away.
2. Tasty appetizer or Full Meal: You can make these Middle Eastern meat pies small and bite-sized or slightly larger as the main course. It’s a great recipe to have on hand.
3. “Travel” to the Middle East: If you want to taste the flavors of the Middle East, this Sfiha recipe is the best way to do it. You will love this recipe!

What do I Need To Make This Recipe?

Ingredients

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.

1. Dough: This recipe would be no good without the crispy, homemade dough. Making your own fresh dough like this calls for pantry staples to make and comes together so well. It’s the most time-consuming part of the recipe, but the sfiha dough is worth the wait.

2. Pomegranate Molasses: If you’re shopping in a regular American supermarket you have probably never come across pomegranate molasses before, but it’s really an amazing ingredient. It’s essential in this recipe for providing a tangy sweetness to the meat mixture. It is also a useful ingredient for many marinades, salad dressings and even co*cktails so once you have it one hand, keep experimenting! You can find it in most Middle Eastern grocery stores or on Amazon here.

3. 7 Spice: Lebanese 7 Spice is a common mix of spices you can usually find in a Middle Eastern grocery store or even online. If you cannot find it, you can make your own. Mix equal parts allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, ground cloves, coriander, cumin and nutmeg.

4. Pepper Paste: Red pepper paste can also be found in Middle Eastern stores or online.

5. Ground Beef: Avoid extra lean. This recipe tastes best with a little bit of fat in the mixture. You could also use ground lamb if you like.

Tools

1. Electric Mixer: Using an electric mixer makes mixing the dough easy but you could mix it by hand if you don’t have a mixer.
2. Rolling pin: You will need a rolling pin to get your dough to the right thickness.
3. Cookie sheets: You can use metal cookie sheets, a baking tray, or a pizza stone for baking in the oven.

How To Make This Recipe

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”4fE5Q1h7″ upload-date=”2022-09-22T05:15:11.000Z” name=”H&PSfiha.mp4″ description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

Step 1: Prepare your dough

In a small bowl, add ½ cup warm water, sugar, and yeast. Mix to combine, then set aside for 10 minutes to allow the yeast to rise.

In a large bowl, add the flour, powdered milk, and salt and mix to combine.

Once the yeast has risen, add the water/yeast mixture into the flour mixture along with the olive oil.

Use your hands or an electric stand mixer to knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until it comes together smoothly. Add the extra ½ cup of water gradually into the dough as you’re kneading. The dough should easily be able to be formed into a ball when you’re done. If it is too sticky, you can add a bit more flour.

Grease a bowl with nonstick spray and add the dough into the bowl. Cover with a towel and place in a warm, dark place for an hour or until it doubles in size.

Step 2: Make the Filling

While you are waiting, mix the ground beef, diced onion, tomato paste, red pepper paste, tomatoes, pomegranate molasses, salt, pepper, 7 spice and parsley together in a bowl. Set aside.

Step 3: Prepare to Bake

When the dough has doubled in size, remove the dish towel and begin assembling your Lahm Bi Ajeen (Sfiha).

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Portion the dough out into 10 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll each dough ball out into circles about ¼” thick. Stab each circle with a fork a few times.

Top the small circles with the meat topping, leaving a bit of dough around the edge (similar to a smaller pizza crust). If you want, you can slightly crimp the edges of your dough upwards.

Place the assembled Lahm Bi Ajeen (Sfiha) on 2-3 cookie sheets, and place in the oven for 12-15 minutes until the dough is completely cooked and slightly golden brown.

Turn the oven to a high broil, and place the cooked Sfiha/Lahm Bi Ajeen under the broiler for 2-3 minutes until the meat is totally brown. Serve with plain yogurt and lemon wedges.

Remove from the oven and enjoy!

Expert Tips

• Make sure your warm water is between 100 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit while making your dough to best activate your yeast.
• The key with making the dough is to gradually add the water and test it using your fingers. If it’s too moist, you can add more flour, a few tablespoons at a time, and if it’s too dry, simply add a bit more water until you reach the right texture.
• Make sure your oven is nice and hot when you go to bake the sfiha. Pre-heating will really benefit this recipe.
• Some people like to top their sfiha with pine nuts, red onions or even dried cranberries.

FAQs

To learn more about Iraq, read more about the history, background and culture while you enjoy this flatbread appetizer.

Did you enjoy this Sfiha Recipe (Lahm Bi Ajeen)? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:

• Hungarian Langos Recipe
• Pan con Tomate from Spain and Andorra
• Baghali Polo from Iran
• Bamya Recipe from Iraq