Murtabak originated in Yemen, which has sizable Indian population; through Indian traders it has spread back to their home countries, to India and southeast of Asia. The word mutabbaq in Arabic means "folded". The dish referred to as Murtabak is a multi layered pancake that originated in the state of Kerela where the people referred to disparagingly as "mamak's" (or uncle) hail from. The word "mutabar" is the correct name for the particular dish referred to incorrectly as "murtabaq". "Mutabar" is an amalgam of two words, "muta" (being the Kerelite word for egg, a significant component of the dish) and "bar", an abbreviated form of the word barota, or "bratha roti" (the bread the egg is added on to make the dish). The bread base or pancake on which it is then spread over is referred to in Hindi as "pratha roti" or "pratha". (Note the difference in pronunciations, pratha and brata).
There are similar versions of the bread in places as Yemen and other regions of the Arabic world and in Persia. All of these places in the Middle East were visited by Indian traders centuries ago and it would not be unusual for them to have learned from each other or to have adopted each other's culinary habits and practices. However, the word "mutabar" is the correct name for the egg chilli and onion flavoured multi layered pancake.
Peniaga rempah, Syima Mohamad berkata, pada hari biasa, rempah tersebut dijual sekitar 100 kilogram dalam tempoh sebulan kerana peniaga hanya menjual untuk pasar malam dan tidak ramai berniaga menu tersebut.
Namun katanya, kehadiran Ramadan menyebabkan peniaga bertambah, termasuk peniaga yang menjual martabak dan tempiasnya turut dirasai kepada peniaga rempah sepertinya.
“Seorang peniaga biasanya membeli dengan kuantiti yang banyak, ada sehingga 40 kilogram seorang. Sebab itu, sebelum Ramadan lagi, kami akan pastikan bekalan rempah terutama martabak mencukupi,” katanya yang berniaga di Pasar Besar Kedai Payang, di sini.
Syima berkata, berdasarkan pengalaman tahun sebelum, rempah martabak terjual sekitar lebih 400 kilogram, iaitu tiga kali ganda berbanding hari biasa.
Namun katanya, kehadiran Ramadan menyebabkan peniaga bertambah, termasuk peniaga yang menjual martabak dan tempiasnya turut dirasai kepada peniaga rempah sepertinya.
“Seorang peniaga biasanya membeli dengan kuantiti yang banyak, ada sehingga 40 kilogram seorang. Sebab itu, sebelum Ramadan lagi, kami akan pastikan bekalan rempah terutama martabak mencukupi,” katanya yang berniaga di Pasar Besar Kedai Payang, di sini.
Syima berkata, berdasarkan pengalaman tahun sebelum, rempah martabak terjual sekitar lebih 400 kilogram, iaitu tiga kali ganda berbanding hari biasa.
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