Hajars Harcha Recipes

HORCHATA

Steps:

• Pour sugar, cinnamon, and rice into hot water; stir until sugar dissolves. Cover, and let stand at room temperature for at least 3 hours, but preferably overnight.
• Stir in milk, then puree with a hand blender, or in batches in a standing blender until the rice resembles fine sand. Strain through several layers of cheesecloth, or through a very fine strainer. Serve over ice.

M'HANNCHA (SNAKE CAKE)

Steps:

• To Make the Orange-Almond Paste:
• Combine the almonds, confectioners' sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom in a food processor or blender and pulse to grind into a coarse meal. Add the butter and egg yolks and pulse until blended. Scrape the paste into a bowl, and stir in the orange-flower water, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla. Divide the paste into 12 balls, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Set the balls on a work surface dusted with confectioners' sugar. Roll each one into a 3 1/2-inch-long log. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• To Assemble the Cake:
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a large baking sheet. Dust a work surface with confectioners' sugar. Place a sheet of phyllo pastry on the sugared work surface, and fold it in thirds to form a 4- by 17-inch rectangle. Brush the sheet with melted butter. Add another folded phyllo sheet, brush with butter, and repeat, until you have four buttered sheets.
• Set four orange-almond paste logs in a row down one long end of the phyllo, and roll the pastry up over them into a cylinder. Fold over the ends and brush on some melted butter to seal the seams. Shape the cylinder into a small, tight coil and place on the baking sheet, seam side down.
• Repeat to prepare two more phyllo rolls. Add each to the end of the coil on the baking sheet, forming a large coil.
• Combine the egg yolks, water, and cinnamon. Brush the mixture over the top of the cake.
• To Bake:
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove the cake from the oven, and let cool on the baking sheet.
• To Serve:
• Stir together the confectioners' sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle on the cake, and top with sliced almonds.

HAJAR'S HARCHA

Steps:

• Place the semolinas, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Use your fingertips and work in the softened butter. Gradually add approximately 1/4 cup water to make a firm dough. Knead it just until it comes together into a dough.
• NB: You can use cornmeal for this should you not be able to find the proper semolinas with okay results. You may need to add a bit of liquid though.
• Roll out the dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into rounds. I make mine failry large though they can be made any size from two inches round upwards. Mine are probably three to three and a half inches around. Roll the trimmings again and continue to cut until all of the dough has been used.
• Brush a large (non-stick) skillet with softened butter and put onto medium heat. When the pan is hot, add as many rounds as wilt fit with a bit of space between them. Cook for 1 to 3 minutes on each side. You don't want them to color much, just to become firm and very lightly browned. You can serve these hot, warm or room temperature though are always best eaten the day of making. Serve with butter and your choice of honey, sugar, powdered sugar, cinnamon but always serve with butter. Cooking time listed is to cook the entire batch if small ones are made.
• See the African Forum for my column on breads and my regular columns; Hajar's Morocco for Foodies.

HAJAR'S OWN HARIRA -- THE NATIONAL SOUP OF MOROCCO

Steps:

• Rinse and pick over fava beans if you can't get these then use dried broad/lima/butter beans and chickpeas. Soak overnight in water to cover. Quick soak method; place beans in large soup pot and add 2 litres hot water. Bring water to a rolling boil for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and soak beans for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Squeeze each fava bean and chickpea between your thumb and first two fingers to remove skins. Set aside.
• In large soup pot over medium heat, cook the onions and meat (chicken can be used as well as beef or no meat at all though NEVER pork) stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent.
• Add turmeric, ginger, paprika and 2 litres water. Cover and bring to rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, add fava beans, chickpeas and cook, covered, until beans are tender. 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on your beans.
• Finely chop together tomatoes, parsley and cilantro. Add this mixture along with the tomato paste, the lentils, pepper, juice of the lemon and drop in 1/2 of the squeezed lemon and salt to taste. Cover and cook until lentils are tender 20 to 25 minutes.
• Bring back to the boil and make a fairly thick slurry (flour and water) with the 1/2 cup of flour. Add this to the boiling soup stirring very briskly to avoid lumps. Boil one minute stirring constantly. Add nutmeg and caraway. Bring the soup to medium heat, you just want a nice slow bubbling.
• Add pasta (orzo or small soup pasta can be used as well though I always prefer vermicelli) and cook until soft. Taste and add salt to taste and adjust pepper. When soup is heated through, ladle harira into individual soup bowls. Serve immediately with lemon wedges, Moroccan flat bread ("My Rough Khoubz works well) or crusty french baguette. This soup should be velvety, not overly thick.
• Prep time does not include soaking the beans.
• NB: Harira is eaten all year, not only at Ramadan. In Morocco the nutmeg is ground to a powder which is darker and very pungent. If you cannot find or do your nutmeg this way, then I recommend that you purchase the freshest nutmeg that you can find.