khobzat lmella خبزة الملى
Algerian Darja · noun
“khobzat lmella” (خبزة الملى) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning bread baked under hot sand.
Meanings
- bread baked under hot sand
Usage
Khobzet el mella is a bread made without an oven. The dough is buried in hot sand and covered with embers. It is mostly associated with the Souf and the Algerian South, where it is part of nomad cooking and desert outings. Once baked, it is beaten and brushed to remove the sand. It is often eaten crumbled into a sauce. Outside the South the word is less well known, and many northern Algerians do not use it. Pronounce el mella with a doubled l.
Example
طيبنا خبزة الملة في الرملة
tayabna khobzet el mella f rmla
“We baked the sand bread in the sand.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khobzat lmella” but also “khobza mella”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.