Armenian cuisine and meat go together like tahini bread and coffee. They feel inseparable. For Lena Tashjian, trying to eat vegan, it certainly felt that way on her birthright Armenia trip. Many ‘vegan’ dishes would just so happen to feature some secret butter, or surprise chicken stock, to amp the flavour.
This was why jingalov hatz was such an incredible surprise when it was served on the bus during that trip. Lena decided she’d need to return to Armenia the next year to learn how to make the dish herself. She shared the recipe with us.
Lena’s Jingalov Hatz Tips
Lena starts with her dough, which is incredibly simple. Just flour, salt, and luke-warm water, which she kneads with her hands. It’s soft, but really pliable and easy to work with. This dough will make eight breads.
To finish her dough, Lena draws a little cross on top. She tells us she learned it from watching Mihran make Manti in our video with him, and how it always makes his dough better. “It’s not rising, but I like it anyway.”
A jingalov hatz could include anywhere from five to forty herbs, Lena tells us. “I’m using six today.” she says. But this recipe doesn’t have a true ingredient list, beyond the dill and green onions.
“Whatever I do with the rest of the herbs, I do double dill and double green onions.” she says. With one bunch of her other ingredients, she uses two bunches of dill and two bunches of spring onions.
And because jingalov hatz is supposed to have some crunch to the texture, Lena keeps some of the stems of the dill and other herbs as she chops them up.
This recipe is Lena’s favourite way to use up spinach--a sentence perhaps only appreciated by vegans and vegetarians. She uses 3 densely packed cups in the filling, and sometimes as many as five.
“I know it's a recipe-less dish, but whatever you do, don’t add thyme.”
The secret ingredient in Lena’s jingalov hatz is a hot pepper. She couldn’t remember what type of hot pepper it was, hence the secret, but any will do! Jalapeno, serano, or whatever you like.
To her greens, Lena adds salt, aleppo pepper, and black pepper. “It’s all to taste.” she says. And with the salt Lena tells us that too much can make the greens lose their moisture, so you shouldn’t be too generous.
Lena returns to her dough and splits it into eight pieces. She rolls one out into an approximate oval shape. “You can work with it.” she says, when her dough doesn’t quite come out line an oval. She keeps rolling and the dough elongates into the right shape. “You want it as thin as possible.”
Lena likes her jingalov hatz filled with lots of green, so she scoops two heaping scoops of filling onto the dough. “Just keep an eye to make sure each jingalov hatz gets equally stuffed.”
She folds the two edges of the dough across the filling to the middle, and pinches them in the center. She works down the seam until the end of the dough is sealed. The dough ends up looking like a boat.
There’s a little air in the jingalov hatz so Lena presses down on it with her hands to get it out. She flips it and does it on the other side too. “And then we cook it on.”
Lena’s goal is to get light brown spots on the bread, but not black--but a little black is ok. Her jingalov hatz comes out perfectly brown.
Enjoy with a salad, or as a healthy green-filled lunch!
Dietary Notes
Dairy free, nut free, peanut free, vegan, vegetarian
Ingredients
Dough
3 ⅓ cups (800 mL) flour
1 teaspoon (5 mL) salt
1 ⅓ cup (320 mL) water
Filling
2 bunches dill
2 bunches green onions
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch parsley
3 cups (720 mL) densely packed spinach
1 serano pepper
1 tablespoon (15 mL) of salt (and more to taste)
1 tablespoon (15 mL) Aleppo pepper (substitute with smoked paprika)
Black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons (75 mL) olive oil
Steps
Combine the 3 ⅓ cups (800 mL) flour and 1 teaspoon (5 mL) salt in a mixing bowl, and then add 1 ⅓ cup (320 mL) water.
Mix the ingredients to combine and then knead the dough until it holds together. Add more flour if too wet, or more water if not binding. The dough should be soft, but not too sticky.
Cover the dough and set it aside.
Roughly chop 2 bunches dill, 2 bunches green onions, 1 bunch cilantro, 1 bunch parsley, 3 cups (720 mL) spinach and put in a mixing bowl.
Half the hot pepper and remove as many seeds as you like, to get the optimal spice. Chop the remaining pepper finely and mix it into your greens.
To the greens, mix in 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of salt, 1 tablespoon (15 mL) Aleppo pepper, black pepper to taste, and 3 tablespoons olive oil.
Stir to combine all the ingredients, and set aside.
Separate the dough into 8 equal parts.
Flour your workspace and roll one piece of dough into a flat oval, just 1-2 mm thick.
Spoon two generous scoops of greens into the center of the dough, and fold the dough over the greens, pinching the seam to completely enclose the greens within the dough.
Press the enclosed jingalov hatz with your hands to get any excess air out from inside.
Repeat steps 9-11 for each of the 8 pieces of dough.
Bring a frying pan up to medium heat. (Optional: oil your frying pan).
Fry each filled jingalov hatz for 3-5 minutes on each side until the bread forms brown spots, and serve.
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