Admittedly this article comes very late. I created this dish on the 16th of June after waking up to a surprising text of “Eid Mubarak”. Damn! I had forgotten it was Eid… so to atone for my sins I decided to learn how to make Balaleet, a sweet savory breakfast that’s typically enjoyed on the breakfast of Eid¹.

I’ll be the first to admit that I hated this dish as a kid. Even now as an adult, I’m not sure how I feel about it. Something about the sweetness of the vermicelli makes me feel sickly and confused: “sweet pasta? Yuck”. A more mature voice in me does appreciate it for what it is: a humble comfort dish. An even more mature part of me enjoys this dish not because of its final flavor, but because of the joy of making it. The wonderful smell of vermicelli as it’s being toasted and the crackling of the omelette as it fries.

Ingredients

• Vermicelli
• Neutral oil, e.g. sunflower oil
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Salt

Instructions

For the Vermicelli:

• Break your vermicelli into 1 inch long pieces
• Toast the vermicelli on medium heat until it turns white (be sure to constantly move it as it can burn)
• Boil the vermicelli for 2:30 minutes. This should give you an al-dente texture
• Cover the bottom of a pot with oil. Add a full layer of vermicelli. Make sure there are no uncovered spots
• Sprinkle sugar on top of the vermicelli. The amount you add depends on how sweet you want it to be²
• Add another layer of vermicelli
• Repeat the process (Note: you do not need to add sugar at each layer. All this depends on how sweet you want it to turn out)
• Cover the pot with a cloth (for absorbing moisture) and then add the lid of the pot on top
• Turn on the hob on low heat (e.g. 2 on an electric hob), and let it cook for some 30-45 minutes (this is similar to how you’d make Iranian rice)

For the omelette:

• Crack your eggs into a cup and beat them
• Add salt, mix thoroughly
• Heat your pan up, then cover it with oil. We want it to be hot at first… we want the egg to crackle: that means sizzle AND pop
• Add your beaten mixture, now you can turn down the heat to medium heat
• Once the bottom of the omelette has browned, flip it

Assembly:

• If done correctly, you should have a “tahdig” of balaleet. Serve some balaleet along with its tahdig on a plate
• Add the omelette on top

My Attempt

For reference, here is the size of the vermicelli. I didn’t break the vermicelli myself… just bought me a packet of broken vermicelli.

The toasting was simple, but it took longer than I was expecting. Be careful when doing this step as a lot of the toasting can occur in an instant.

1. It is enjoyed the mornings of both Eid al Fitr and Eid al Adha ↩︎
2. We want the first vermicelli layer to be fully covered. Any holes and the sugar will seep to the bottom, causing it to burn when we cook the vermicelli ↩︎