Well, Ramadan has officially started here in the UK! May this holy mouth
brings you the utmost in peace and prosperity!Today's post is dedidated to Huma's readers.
I hope you enjoy it all!
I have introduced our culinary habits during this month over here. Like I mentioned before, most of us love having some little bites on
our Ramadan table, surrounding the main soup of the day for a first meal
In the old times, Harcha (see my extensive post about it here), or the Moroccan semolina galette (also found in Algeria under a
different name) used to come plain, with herbs, stuffed from the inside with
some basic ingredients in some limited areas of Morocco.
Nowadaws, Harcha comes in individual portions and can its dough can be
mixed with olives, khlii' (Moroccan preserved meat) and also cheese, which is
the version I'll be posting today.
Harcha can be eaten any time of the day, it can replace bread: You
either eat it as is, or you open it from the middle to make a sandwich, or you
can just place things on top and bite into it (again, it's all explained here).
But for today's harcha, cheese comes already inside. Once one bites into
it, that white layer reveals itself as a nice surprise.
Harcha should be eaten at room temperature or slightly warm. It's not a
freezer-friendly recipe and it's best consumed within the next 6 hours.
It's important to choose the right caliber of semolina. It's not the
fine durun flour, it's not a couscous grain and it should not be the large
grain either. It's just like the one used for Basboussa or Revani(if you are
familiar with these desserts).
Stuffed mini-harcha galettes with cheese
Ingredients
Serves 4 persons
Prep: 10 min - cooking: 20 min
Basic
ingredients for harcha
·
300 g de fine semolina
·
1 tsp of salt
·
30 ml of oil (vegetable or olive oil)
or/and melted butter
·
90
ml of lukewarm water (or a 50%-50% water and milk)
·
1/2 tsp of baking powder
·
100g
of crumbled feta or soft white cheese (jben is a favorite in Morocco)
·
1
tbsp of dried herbs (thyme, oregano)
For shaping
·
20-30
g of fine or medium semolina
Optional
Black or green olives, pitted and chopped
Preparation
"Bessess" the
semolina: feed it with fat
- Mix dry ingredients with the fat you are planning to use (oil, melted
butter..). Work these ingredients with your fingers making sure all grains have
been properly coated. This should take about 1 min.
- At this stage, you can cover it and leave it for a few minutes to 1 hour. If
you are in a hurry, carry on with the next step.
Shape the dough ball
- Slowly incorporate the liquid (water, a mix of water-milk) to the mix bring the
dough together. Some people leave it slightly sloppy. I don't like it hard so
It's easy to shape it and I don't like it sloppy either:too hard and you will
have cracks, too sloppy and it will be somewhat rubbery.
- Try to come up with
a ball by sending the dough from one hand to the other. This will form a ball
without developping gluten or breaking the texture of the semolina grain. This
should take about 1 min.
- In the meantime, heat a heavy bottom non-stick pan or skillet over medium
heat.
Shaping and cooking
harcha
- For small harchas using a round cutter or a glass: sprinkle the worktop with
fine or medium semolina and roll/flatten the dough anywhere between 5 mm to 7
cm (I prefer it thin). Place the cheese on top and cover with another port of
the dough which you need to flatten with your hand to cover the cheese.
- Because we are dealing with small portions in this
recipe, I flatten the dough, I place the cheese in half of it and I cover it
with the other half. Then I cut my mini-harchas
- The filling should not poke from the bottom or top (it's okay if it shows from
the sides), it should be totally covered otherwise it will stick to the pan.
- Roll the bits of dough left and shape another mini-harcha which might have bits
of cheese everywhere, just make sure you tuck them inside (no cheese pocking
thing).
- Sprinkle again from the top. Cut
and place over the skillet..Cook each side about 10 min until you see brown
patches.
It's always
important to handle the dough quickly and not to let it dry.Serve warm or at room temperature, any time of the day!
To know more about Moroccon cuisine visit Nada @ blog, facebook