Sultan's Kitchen

[Tunisia216 2]

Not really a recipe of sorts.. But Jihed was whining about something his Mom makes and so I just started throwing stuff in a pot..

Henia posted a recipe like this the other day as well (sweet couscous/breakfast recipes) .. I didn't follow hers .. same principal, but it came out pretty dang good...

put in 4 cups of milk, buncha sugar (didn't measure lol ) - I used white and some brown sugar... a lot of butter...a lot of Cinnamon, some maple syrup as it was coming to a boil.... . Brought all of it to a boil and then added my 4 cups of couscous and let it go just a few more seconds..

Took it off, stirred around and fluffed with a fork to get everything unstuck.. added a bit more butter that I melted.. stirred that in and then drizzled maple syrup over it.. put dried apricots, figs, raisins, and pineapple pieces on top... took some hershey's chocolate bars and used the cheese grater on them.... and he's in there eating like it's the best thing he's ever had.. it did come out good... but I'm just wondering when he's going to go into a sugar coma

:wacko:

[Henia 11]

Not really a recipe of sorts.. But Jihed was whining about something his Mom makes and so I just started throwing stuff in a pot..

Henia posted a recipe like this the other day as well (sweet couscous/breakfast recipes) .. I didn't follow hers .. same principal, but it came out pretty dang good...

put in 4 cups of milk, buncha sugar (didn't measure lol ) - I used white and some brown sugar... a lot of butter...a lot of Cinnamon, some maple syrup as it was coming to a boil.... . Brought all of it to a boil and then added my 4 cups of couscous and let it go just a few more seconds..

Took it off, stirred around and fluffed with a fork to get everything unstuck.. added a bit more butter that I melted.. stirred that in and then drizzled maple syrup over it.. put dried apricots, figs, raisins, and pineapple pieces on top... took some hershey's chocolate bars and used the cheese grater on them.... and he's in there eating like it's the best thing he's ever had.. it did come out good... but I'm just wondering when he's going to go into a sugar coma

You talking about Seffa? What I posted before was the Algerian version ... but here is my version. I do a simple syrup similar to yours above! So tasty!

Picture for reference

My version:

Quote:

1/2 package Couscous fine (small grains)

1 cup sugar (or to taste)

3 cups water

dried fruits (what you like ... I use either mix of figs, prunes, apricots and sultanas or apples, pears

pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg

few caradamom pods

orange blossom water, few splashes

toasted almonds, pinenuts pistachios

Prepare the couscous per the method: soak, steam, fork.

Poach the dried fruits (or fresh apples/pears) in the sugar water with the spices/orange water. Remove caradmom pods when finised.

Toast the nuts.

Finally mix the fruits in with the couscous. Mound the couscous on a platter in a pyrmid type shae. Optionally draw a line on the couscous with cinnamon. Top with the nuts. Have sugar at the table for those who prefer it sweeter.

[Henia 11]

Matlou

plain flour (a cup)

fine semolina flour (three cups or so)

half a packet of instant yeast dissolved into a bowl of warm water

olive oil

sesame oil (optional)

anis seeds 3tbs

nigella seeds

smidge of milk

a good tablespoon of salt

Mix half the plain flour and all of the semolina in a bowl with the salt and the anis seeds.

Add both oils, and mix it around with your hands until the oil is pretty well distributed.

Add 1/3 a cup of milk, most of the water/yeast mixture.

It should be sticky at this point and sticking to your fingers.

Add the rest of the plain flour until you get a non-sticky dough ball and work it.

The goal is to work the dough ball for around twenty minutes or you can do like I do and divide it up in to little pieces and spend around five minutes on each one.

You want the dough not to break when you stretch it.

This is one of those eyeball moments. If you have seen someone make matlou or pizza dough you know when it is ready.

Once you are emotionally ready to stop working the dough, set them on some paper towels and cover them with a cloth for one hour to let them rise. Your goal is that they should be about 3/4 inch thick.

Get big frying pan. Or use an Algerian tajine ... If your frying pan is teflon, you don't need to oil the pan; at any rate, you don't want the outer surfaces to be too greasy. Heat your stovetop. I put mine on high to heat up the pan good, then on medium when I actually put the bread in the pan. Stab both sides of the bread with a fork, flip accordingly. The finised product should be brown on both sides but not carbonized, and if the sides are a little raw, get a cloth and hold it on the side to the frying pan and rotate.

[Henia 11]

Eastern Algerian Tajin Sibnekh

Oil

2 Potatoes, peeled and cubed and then fried

8oz Diced Chicken breast or thighs with the onions and garlic that is cooked with it, you will cook this with saffron and with water

1 Tbsp Harissa

1-1/2 Tsp Ras el Hanout

3 Bunches Parsley washed and chopped

10 Eggs

1/3 Cup Cheddar Cheese or any other soft cheese grated

1 Pinch Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 Tsp Baking Powder

1, Preheat oven to 400f/200c Grease a 9x13" baking dish.

2, Heat the veg oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the potatoes in the hot oil until golden brown and tender, about 7 mins. Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. let cool

3, In a large mixing bowel add the cooked chicken, drained from the broth, add the potatoes, baking powder, parsley, cheese, and eggs, mix well. add about one cup of the chicken broth to it, salt and pepper and mix. then pour mixture into the baking pan, cook at 325c, till firm like a cake, take out of oven let cool, slice into squares.

[Henia 11]

Atbikha

1 kg fresh fava beans[foull]you can used the frosen one

500 g peas[jilbanna]

5 or 6 artichokes [karnon]

fresh coriander

1/2 kg potatoes

salt

black peapper

sweet paprika

6cloves garlic

1 tab sp tomato puree

1 large onion finely chopped

2 tab sp oil

Wash and clean the fava

Mash the garlic with salt in mortor/pastel or on board

Sautee off the onion and then add the garlic.

Off the heat add the paprika as to not burn it

Add the veggies, tomato puree and water to cover

Allow to cook for about 30m or until veggies soft. Garnish with cilantro. Bsahatkoum!

[Henia 11]

Mok acheki

translated: Brain of an old man! LOL! or aka Algerian zuchinni fritters. Lsightly different from what I posted on the other page.

1/2kg grated zuchinni

mashed garlic 3 cloves

pinch cumin

harissa to taste

5 eggs

Mix all the ingreidents, add pinch of flour if you need to bind them. Add the mix to a frying pan with oil. Fry off the fritters untl golden but not brown. Serve with rouille or harissa mayo.

Rouille

1 teasp cayenne pepper

3 cloves garlic

1 cup olive oil

2 egg yolk

5 g saffron

In a mortar, crush the garlic to a fine mash.

2. Add the egg yolks, and beat into a mayonaise while adding about a half-cup of olive oil.

3. When the sauce is thick and smooth, stir in the pepper and saffron

Edited August 30, 2008 by Henia

[Henia 11]

Courgette (un)Dolma a la Henia LOL!

Easy recipe for dolma with red sauce for those whose filling doesnt' stay in ... outside filling!

1/2 kg ground meat

breadcrumbs 1/4 cup

1 egg

2tbs tomato puree

2 TBS Italian style herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram)

3 garlic cloves mashed

1 large onion finely chopped

4 large zuchinni quatered into batons

1tsp sweet paprika

salt/pepper

Make the meatballs by combing the meat, with salt/pepper, pinch of the garlic, egg and breadcrumbs. Form meatballs and leave in frig to set.

Sautee the onion and garlic. Add the tomato puree and spices. Quick sautee the zuchinni then add water to cover. Lay gently the meatballs on top of the zuchinni as to partly steam them. Cook covered until the meatballs swell.

Serve with mashed potatoes (traditionally not Algerian) but traditionally with rice/bread. Bsahatkoum!

[caybee 21]

Just realized I have a recipe for chebbakia in a cookbook here. It says you put the chebbakia in hot honey water after you fry it. I'm not sure about the proportions of honey to water. I saw a tagine recipe calling for honey water, and the proportions were about 4 tablespoons honey to 1 cup water. Does that sound about right? Think I'll play it by ear

If hubby says it's correct, I'll post the recipe later. The recipe doesn't call for sesame seeds on top, but it should have it, right?

[Henia 11]

Well each person has their own *tweeks* to the basic recipes ... with seasame seeds or not. Braided or twisted ... really all the same! In Algeria less spices are used then in Morocco ...

This is not a particularly difficult recipe to make but I highly recomment to work with someone to do it. It’s better to be two persons because you need to dip the pastries in honey immediately upon removing them from the frying oil. Then it’s not recommended to let them swim in the honey, you have to remove them pronto to put them in a sieve a minute or two for the excess honey to drip. Then you have to immediately sprinkle with sesame seeds because if you wait the seeds won’t adhere well to the pastries.

All this happens in less than 1 minute laps of time and you have to keep in mind you need to be watching and turning those pastries frying while you honey and sesame those already fried. So I recommend you make the dough and form it with your pal, then when all the dough is formed, one person takes care of the frying and the other of the honeying and sesame sprinkling.

About 6 cups (1 kg) all purpose flour

2 eggs

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (actually I weight 125 g butter)

1/4 cup vinegar (I use cider vinegar)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup anise powder

1 cup and a 1/4 sesame seeds (200 g)

1/3 a cup orange blossom water

1 cup water

1 teaspoon quick rising yeast

1 teaspoon baking powder

Few saffron threads (optional)

Vegetable oil suitable for frying

For after you fry the pastries:

3 cups (250 g) honey

2 tablespoons orange blossom water

4 tablespoons sesame seeds

¼ teaspoon salt

First, lay the sesame seeds intended for the dough on a cookie sheet and toast them until slighly golden in a 350 F oven (watch them so they don't burn!).

Let them cool totally and then crush them in a food processor or in a coffee grinder.

To make the dough by hand

Put the saffron in 3 tablespoons of warm water took out from the cup of water you will use for the dough. Set aside for 5 minutes then remove the threads and discard them. Put the saffroned water back in the main cup water.

In a large bowl, mix well together water, eggs, vinegar, olive oil, butter, anise powder, orange blossom water and the toasted powdered sesame seeds.

Add 4 cups of the flour and incorporate well in the wet ingredients. Add both quick rising yeast and baking powder and continue to mix. Add the rest of the flour little by little while kneading until you obtain a dough which no longer sticks to your hands (you may not need the entire amount of flour or you may need more than the amout the recipe calls for).

The dough not only shouldn’t stick to your hands anymore but it also has to be the texture of kid’s playdough. Malleable yet somewhat sturdy.

In your kitchenaid bowl, mix well together water, eggs, vinegar, olive oil, anise powder, orange blossom water and the toasted powdered sesame seeds.

Using the dough hook, mix in 2/3 of the flour and add baking powder and yeast.

Add the rest of the flour,1/2 a cup at a time, until you obtain a play-dough like dough.

Separate the dough in balls the size of an orange. Let rest, covered with a kitchen towel, for 30 minutes before shaping.

Take each ball of dough and roll it out in a 1/4 of an inch thickness.

It’s tricky to explain ho wto shape. Let’s say the main rule is to have a dough rolled less than1/4 of an inch thick.

Then make squares of entrelaced bands of dough. Here are the pics of the shaping.

Make sure you shape all the chebbakia before heating your frying oil and begin to fry them.

In a saucepan, heat on very low heat the honey with the orange blossom water. Once warm, remove from heat.

Prepare a sieve over a bowl in which the honey-dipped chebbakia will drain for 1 minute.

Frying and honeying the chebbakia

Heat oil in a fryer (I don’t own an electric one so I don’t know how one can fry chebbakia in those).

Put several shaped chebbakias in it and fry, turning them once, until golden brown on both sides.

Immediately submerge each fried pastry in the honey. Make sure it has honey all over but don't let the pastry stand in the honey.

Remove the pastries from the honey and put to drain in the sieve for half a minute or so.

Put the honeyed pastries on a large platter and sprinkle immediately with sesame seeds.

Chebbakia keeps at room temperature up to 2 weeks. Just cover it with aluminium foil or keep it in a pot with a lid.

Edited August 30, 2008 by Henia

[caybee 21]

Thanks, Henia! This is a bit different from the recipe I found, but I'll give it a try.

[Henia 11]

You are welcome! Let us know how it turns out!

[caybee 21]

Thanks, Henia! This is a bit different from the recipe I found, but I'll give it a try.

The dough for the recipe I had was similar to a melwi dough, but with more water to make it more like a pancake batter, and the recipe said to swirl it into the oil from a funnel. I had already started the batter, so I went ahead and tried it that way. When Jamal woke up, he confirmed that the way he knows it, it is sliced and braided the way your recipe shows. My recipe did come out okay, though, and I thought it was pretty. I'll seal it up, and we may eat it next week or not. Now I have a headache, and we're going outside to change some brake pads.

[Henia 11]

It seems like the recipe is telling you to prepare it like a funnel cake? right?

[Henia 11]

Sounds more like Zlabia .... are you sure it's not Zlabia?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvYVh1B_OgU

[Tunisia216 2]

Yeh you inspired me! lol It was kinda like that, but it became more of a throw anything with sugar that I had on hand into the pot!! lol

Not really a recipe of sorts.. But Jihed was whining about something his Mom makes and so I just started throwing stuff in a pot..

Henia posted a recipe like this the other day as well (sweet couscous/breakfast recipes) .. I didn't follow hers .. same principal, but it came out pretty dang good...

put in 4 cups of milk, buncha sugar (didn't measure lol ) - I used white and some brown sugar... a lot of butter...a lot of Cinnamon, some maple syrup as it was coming to a boil.... . Brought all of it to a boil and then added my 4 cups of couscous and let it go just a few more seconds..

Took it off, stirred around and fluffed with a fork to get everything unstuck.. added a bit more butter that I melted.. stirred that in and then drizzled maple syrup over it.. put dried apricots, figs, raisins, and pineapple pieces on top... took some hershey's chocolate bars and used the cheese grater on them.... and he's in there eating like it's the best thing he's ever had.. it did come out good... but I'm just wondering when he's going to go into a sugar coma

You talking about Seffa? What I posted before was the Algerian version ... but here is my version. I do a simple syrup similar to yours above! So tasty!

Picture for reference

My version:

Quote:

1/2 package Couscous fine (small grains)

1 cup sugar (or to taste)

3 cups water

dried fruits (what you like ... I use either mix of figs, prunes, apricots and sultanas or apples, pears

pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg

few caradamom pods

orange blossom water, few splashes

toasted almonds, pinenuts pistachios

Prepare the couscous per the method: soak, steam, fork.

Poach the dried fruits (or fresh apples/pears) in the sugar water with the spices/orange water. Remove caradmom pods when finised.

Toast the nuts.

Finally mix the fruits in with the couscous. Mound the couscous on a platter in a pyrmid type shae. Optionally draw a line on the couscous with cinnamon. Top with the nuts. Have sugar at the table for those who prefer it sweeter.