Lavash
Paper-thin unleavened flatbread, blistered and scored in the tradition of the hearth.
Step-by-step →Flatbread · Cilicia
LAHMAJUN
Լահմաջո
Thin flatbread spread with minced lamb, pepper and parsley, baked hard and eaten rolled with lemon.
2 hours
Total time
Makes 12
Yield
5
Steps
Step by step
HOW IT IS MADE
- 01
Raise a lean dough
Knead flour, yeast, salt and water into a soft dough with no fat, and let it double for an hour.
- 02
Mince the topping fine
Chop or pulse meat, pepper, tomato, onion, garlic, parsley and spices to a wet paste. It should spread, not sit in lumps.
- 03
Roll very thin
Divide into twelve balls and roll each into a disc about 2 mm thick — thin enough to fold without cracking.
- 04
Spread to the edge
Smear a thin layer of topping right to the rim, leaving no bare border.
- 05
Bake fierce and fast
Bake at 250 °C on a hot tray or stone for 6–8 minutes. Squeeze lemon over, roll up, eat standing.
At a glance
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Energy
- ≈ 280 kcal each
- Preparation
- 1 h + 1 h rising
- Cooking
- 6–8 min each
- Season
- All year
- Occasion
- Street food, church fundraisers, big family batches
Cook's notes
GET IT RIGHT
- Keep the dough lean — fat makes it bready rather than crisp.
- Drain the topping if it is watery, or the base steams.
- Spread thin and right to the edge.
- The oven must be as hot as it goes; slow baking dries it out.
Variations
Aintab style
Hotter, with more pepper paste and less tomato.
Missahatz
The thicker Armenian home version, closer to a small pizza.
Questions
ASKED IN THE KITCHEN
Crisp or soft?
Bakery lahmajun is crisp at the rim and foldable at the centre — aim for both.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Yes, with finely chopped mushroom or lentils in place of the meat, same spicing.
History & Culture
WHY THIS DISH
Lahmajun belongs to the Armenian bakeries of Cilicia, Aintab and Aleppo, where households brought their own trays of topping to the neighbourhood oven and carried back stacks wrapped in cloth. It is street food and family food at once.
In diaspora communities it became a fundraiser dish — church halls in Beirut, Marseille, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires turning out hundreds at a time. Everyone argues about whether it should be crisp or foldable; both camps are right at home.
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