Tag: north african

• 

  PK’s Moroccan Chickpea Stew With Lamb And Flatbread

  The inspiration for this North African style stew came from browsing Wikipedia for North African dishes. I pretty much started with their entry for Chakhchoukha (the picture of the dish captivated me) and worked backwards.

  Chakhchoukha is a stew of chickpeas, lamb and seasonal vegetables. It is beefed up with pieces of torn semolina flatbread. The flat bread pieces are added to the bowl and the stew ladled on top. They soak up the sauces in the most amazing way as you eat them during the meal. Then extra flat bread can be used to clean the bowl of every last bit of the amazing sauce.

  I have to mention the spices in the Moroccan spice blend. They alone have me wanting to eat my way across North Africa. The blend I used was a mixture of paprika, turmeric, cumin, salt, nutmeg, cloves and chili. It smells similar to garam masala.

  Dietary Note: Substitute the lamb with potatoes and or mushrooms to make a vegetarian version.

  

  Steps

  1. Cooking the ingredients
  2. Simmering the stew and making flatbread
  3. Serving

  Ingredients

  • 700g lamb shoulder cubed
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp chili powder (I used Kashmiri)
  • 1 tsp Moroccan spice mix
  • 1 large brown onion, diced
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 1 zucchini, sliced
  • 400g tomatoes (canned)
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 800g chickpeas (canned)
  • Water, enough to cover the rest of the ingredients
  • Table salt to taste
  • Black peppercorns to taste, cracked
  • 1 -2 Semolina flatbread to line each individual’s bowl, roughly torn

  Equipment

  • 1 chef’s knife
  • 1 chopping board
  • 1 pan or oven proof dish
  • 1 wooden spoon

  Cooking the ingredients

  1. Soften the diced onion somewhat and then brown the 700g cubed lamb.
  2. Gently but thoroughly mix in the:
     • 1 tsp cumin seeds
     • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
     • 1 tsp chili powder (I used Kashmiri)
     • 1 tsp Moroccan spice mix
  3. Mix in the carrot, zucchini, 400g canned tomatoes and 1 Tbsp tomato paste.
  4. Add enough water to cover everything, mix gently and bring everything to a good boil for a minute or two.

  

  

  

  

  

  Simmering the stew and making flatbread

  1. Reduce the heat and simmer (uncovered) for about 30 minutes, stirring every now and again.
  2. Add the 800g canned chickpeas and gently mix everything.
  3. Start making your flatbread now – recipe here.
  4. Simmer for another hour (uncovered) or until the lamb is tender and the sauce has reduced somewhat.

  

  Serving

  1. Tear  1 – 2 Semolina flatbread pieces and line each of your guest’s serving bowls.
  2. Ladle the meat and vegetables into each bowl.
  3. Top up with the gravy and serve hot.
  4. Have some extra flatbread on hand.

  

  

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

  MORE MOROCCAN DISHES

  MORE NORTH AFRICAN CUISINE

   SEMOLINA FLATBREAD

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  August 8, 2018

• 

  Semolina Flatbread: Rougag

  This was my first time making flat bread and I am not much of a baker to begin with so I was stoked with the result. This has to be the oldest form of bread making (that long history in itself is exciting) and you are going need a lot of elbow grease and a bit of practice.

  

  I tend to be drawn to dishes where the simplicity of the ingredients give no hint to the joy that the final product makes you feel. It is what compels me to cook and share my experiences with you.

  Steps

  1. Making the dough
  2. Kneading the dough
  3. Cooking the bread

  Ingredients (for 3 pieces)

  • 100g wheat semolina (preferably from durum wheat and yellow colour)
  • 1 tsp salt (I don’t use salt in the rest of my cooking so this was perfect, reduce if needed)
  • Cold water
  • Plain white flour, to dust work surfaces and hands
  • Olive oil to coat fry pan each time

  Equipment

  • 1 mixing bowl
  • 1 rolling pin
  • 1 fry pan

  Making the dough

  1. Put the semolina and salt into a mixing bowl.
  2. Add a tiny bit of cold water and mix with your hands.
  3. Keep adding cold water and mixing until the dough is elastic and smooth.

  

  Kneading the dough

  1. Knead the dough for about 15 minutes (if like me you are new to this I have included an external youtube video with a great technique).
  2. Let the dough sit for 15 minutes and then break into balls (100g of semolina should about get you 3 balls).
  3. Sprinkle your work surface with some plain white flour and roll the balls out into very flat discs.

  Cooking the bread

  1. Oil your fry pan and bring to a medium low heat.
  2. Cook one side of the bread, then the other, waiting for it to bubble before flipping.
  3. Turn the heat down a bit if you find the bread is burning before it is ready to be flipped.
  4. Wipe the pan clean.
  5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 for each piece of bread.

  

  

  

  

  Serving

  I roughly tore the bread and added them to a Moroccan Style Chickpea Stew With Lamb (ala Chakhchoukha) that I was trying to reverse engineer. It was the perfect taste and texture addition to the meal.

  I even used it as a ‘spoon’ to get the last of the sauce from the bowl. A good sign of success and a use of the bread that I understand was probably the whole point mists of time.

  

  Enjoy and please feel free to help me improve my bread making,

  PK

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  BAKING

  NORTH AFRICAN CUISINE

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 24, 2018

• 

  PK’s Shakshuka For One

  After recently being introduced to this amazing dish by ShakShukaMoroccan (these guys are super friendly and they bring skill and passion to their work) at the Palmyra Markets (Western Australia), I have dreamt about it ever since. I present my first attempt in the hope you get addicted too :).

  There is something captivating about this ‘eat any time of the day’ dish because the list of ingredients is so simple but the end result makes your draw drop and your senses swim. I intend to chop and change some of the ingredients depending on what I have in the back of the fridge but the core is lots of tomatoes, onion, capsicum, cumin, leafy greens and poached eggs.

  

  You will be:

  1. Preparing your ingredients.
  2. Stewing the tomato base.
  3. Poaching the eggs.
  4. Serving.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • a punnet of cherry tomatoes, sliced
    • half a brown onion, thinly sliced
    • half a capsicum (bell pepper), sliced
    • 1 -2 garlic cloves, finely diced
    • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, ground
    • 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
    • a generous dash of dried paprika, ground
    • a handful of spinach
    • a good slug of olive oil
    • a really good slug of tomato paste
    • black peppercorns to taste, cracked
    • table salt to taste
    • chili powder to taste
    • coriander leaves to garnish (mint leaves are also good)
  •  Equipment:
    • a long sharp knife
    • a chopping board
    • a dry mixer or a mortar and pestle
    • a cast iron skillet (mine was 21cm wide) or heavy pan
    • a wooden spoon

  Preparing your ingredients

  1. Roughly slice the punnet of cherry tomatoes.
  2. Finely slice or chop the half a brown onion.
  3. Slice the half a capsicum (use more if you prefer).
  4. Finely dice the 1 -2 garlic cloves.
  5. Roast and the grind the:
     • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
     • 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
  6. Wash the handful of spinach.
  7. Wash the coriander leaves and rip them up some.

  Stewing the tomato base

  1. Bring your skillet to medium to low heat and add a good slug of olive oil.
  2. Add the sliced onion, the ground cumin seeds, ground coriander seeds and a generous dash of ground paprika.
  3. Cook until the onions have started to soften and add the sliced half a capsicum.
  4. When the capsicum slices are starting to soften add the punnet of sliced cherry tomatoes and the handful of spinach leaves.

  

  

  

   Poaching the eggs

  1. Once you are happy with the tomato stew turn the heat right down.
  2. Make a couple of indentations in the stew with your wooden spoon.
  3. Crack an egg into each indent and keep cooking until the eggs are how you like them. You can put a plate over the skillet if you like the top of your eggs cooked.

  

  

  Serving

  Garnish with some ripped coriander leaves or mint and serve piping hot and still in the skillet.

  I couldn’t wait and started eating it while it was still on the hob :).

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

  MORE NORTH AFRICAN CUISINE

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  June 15, 2017