Khaleeji

Balaleet (Sweet Vermicelli with Omelette)

Name: Balaleet (Sweet Vermicelli with Omelette)
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Khaleeji
Ingredients: 8 oz roasted vermicelli; 1/3 cup sugar; 1/2 tsp cardamom powder; 1/4 tsp saffron threads; 1 tsp rose water; 3 tbsp butter; 4 eggs; 1/4 tsp salt; 1 tbsp cooking oil

Fatima @fatima_machboos

Balaleet (Sweet Vermicelli with Omelette) is Khaleeji home cooking, eaten at breakfast. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.

25 min Medium Eggetarian Pescatarian Halal

Ingredients

Serves

The quantities follow this count.

8 oz roasted vermicelli
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp saffron threads
1 tsp rose water
3 tbsp butter
4 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp cooking oil

How to cook it

Bring a pot of water to a boil, break the vermicelli in half and cook 3 minutes until just tender, then drain well.
Melt the butter in a wide pan over medium heat, stir in the sugar, cardamom and saffron, then add the drained vermicelli and toss until every strand is coated and glossy.
Cook 4 minutes, stirring, until the vermicelli turns a deep golden color, then stir in the rose water and remove from the heat.
Whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt, heat the oil in a separate nonstick pan, and cook a thin omelette 2 minutes per side until just set, then slide it out and slice into ribbons.
Pile the sweet vermicelli onto plates, lay the omelette ribbons over the top, and serve warm, the sweet and savory breakfast most Gulf children grow up on.

Watch how to cook Balaleet (Sweet Vermicelli with Omelette)

Someone making it start to finish, so you can see what the steps look like.

Balaleet - Traditional Emirati Breakfast, Easy Emirati Breakfast Play the video

Safe at your table

Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Balaleet (Sweet Vermicelli with Omelette) carries dairy, gluten, and eggs. It is free of the remaining 7 allergens on that list.

Every tracked allergen in Balaleet (Sweet Vermicelli with Omelette)
Allergen	In this dish	Cook this instead
Peanuts	No
Tree nuts	No
Dairy	Yes	Chicken Kabsa
Gluten	Yes	Bayd bil Tamat (Eggs in Tomato Sauce)
Shellfish	No
Eggs	Yes	Chicken Kabsa
Soy	No
Fish	No
Sesame	No
Coconut	No

These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.

What it brings to the plate

Estimated, per serving

Calories: 460 kcal
Protein: 12 g
Carbs: 60 g
Fat: 19 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sugar: 18 g
Sodium: 130 mg
Saturated fat: 8 g

Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.

When to cook it

Balaleet (Sweet Vermicelli with Omelette) takes about 25 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at breakfast. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.