Hasawi Red Bread
Red bread is among the most time-honored kinds of traditional Saudi bread, made famous by the Al-Ahsa region in the east of the Kingdom as Saudipedia documents.
Whole-wheat flour is kneaded with steeped (mu'arras) date water so it takes on its red color and sweetness, and it is scented with aniseed, nigella seeds, and sesame, and traditionally baked in clay ovens.
Pit the dates and soak them in the boiling water for a quarter hour until they break down, then mash them and press them in the same soaking water and strain, so you get a dark red sweet date water. This soaking and pressing is called ta'rees, and it is what gives Hasawi bread its color and sweetness without added sugar.
Mix the whole-wheat flour, the white flour, the bran, the yeast, the powdered milk, the salt, and the cardamom, then add the lukewarm date water and the oil and knead eight minutes until a soft dough of a brownish-pink color forms.
Knead the aniseed, the nigella seeds, and half the sesame into the dough, the seeds that set the bread of Al-Ahsa apart from others, then cover the dough for one hour until it doubles in size.
Divide the dough into eight balls and flatten them into finger-thick discs on trays lined with baking paper. Brush their surface with a little water or the soaked saffron and scatter the rest of the sesame, and leave them to rest a third of an hour.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for twenty to twenty-five minutes until the surface of the discs turns a dark reddish-brown. In Al-Ahsa it is traditionally baked in clay ovens over palm trunks.
Eat it warm on its own, for the sweetness of the dates in it is enough, or with white cheese and laban, a traditional breakfast that brings whole wheat and dates together in one loaf.
The glycemic index (GI) measures how quickly a food raises blood sugar, while the glycemic load (GL) measures how much a full serving raises it. Together they give the complete picture.
A low value (≤55) means a gradual rise in blood sugar — the most suitable range for diabetes and insulin resistance.
Glycemic load reflects the impact of the full serving. To lower it: take half a serving, or pair the recipe with a source of protein and fiber.
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet per FDA food-label reference values — your daily needs may be higher or lower. Values are derived from the recipe's ingredients via the USDA database.
The most common problems when preparing Hasawi Red Bread, and how to fix them:
The amount of dates is too little or their color is light. Use a full two hundred grams of dark dates, and press the dates well in the soaking water to extract all their color.
The date water was added hot so it killed the yeast, or the dough didn't get its full proofing time. Add the water lukewarm and leave the dough a full hour.
The oven is dry or its heat is too high. Wipe the discs with water before baking, and place a small dish of water in the bottom of the oven to moisten its air.
This is its nature with the full amount of dates. Anyone who wants it less sweet reduces the dates to 150 g, so the color stays and the taste balances out.
At its best in the hour it comes out of the oven.
Three days in an airtight bag, for the dates' moisture keeps it soft longer than white bread.
Two months as wrapped discs, thawed and reheated two minutes in a hot oven.
| Original Ingredient | Tested Substitute | Ratio | Flavor Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Khalas dates | Any soft dark date (brown Sukkari or Safri) | 1:1 | All dates work, and the dark ones give a deeper color |
| The dominant whole-wheat flour | Half whole-wheat and half white | ~ | A lighter texture for those not used to whole flour |
| Aniseed | Ground anise | 1:1 | Their flavors are close, from the same family |
| The electric oven | A thick griddle with a lid over low heat | ~ | The closest home method to the effect of a clay oven |
| Ingredient | 8 discs | 4 discs | 16 discs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole-wheat flour | 300 g | 150 g | 600 g |
| Dates | 200 g | 100 g | 400 g |
| Sesame and spices | 12 g | 6 g | 24 g |
The color and sweetness in this bread come from the dates, not from sugar, so the darker the ta'rees dates (such as ripe Khalas), the deeper the color and the clearer the sweetness. Add the date water to the dough lukewarm, not hot, because high heat kills the yeast so the bread won't rise.
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