Ojja (Shakshuka)
Abuja, Nigeria · View all recipes
Overview
Ojja is a Tunisian dish of eggs cooked in a spiced tomato and pepper sauce, and it is one of the country's most eaten meals. The name comes from Tunisian Arabic slang meaning mixture, which describes it accurately: tomato, pepper, onion, garlic and spice, with eggs finished in the sauce. Whether ojja and shakshuka are the same thing is genuinely disputed, and the disagreement is worth stating rather than resolving. Some Tunisians hold that ojja is made with garlic and no onion while shakshuka uses both. One published account draws the line differently, arguing that in ojja the eggs are stirred through the sauce while in shakshuka they are poached whole on the surface, which would make ojja a close relative of Turkish menemen. Others say the two words name one dish. The recipe here allows both egg treatments and notes that both are used in Tunisia. Its origin is generally placed in Tunisia or Yemen, and it is eaten across North Africa. It has also become a fixture of Israeli cooking over the past few decades, where it is eaten at any meal. Merguez, the North African lamb sausage, and harissa are what mark this version as Tunisian rather than anything else, and toasted whole coriander, caraway and cumin ground fresh give it a depth that pre-ground spice does not.
AFN Heritage Note
Ojja is a Tunisian dish of eggs cooked in spiced tomato sauce, its name derived from Tunisian Arabic for mixture. Its origin is variously attributed to Tunisia or Yemen, and it is eaten across North Africa.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Toast the coriander, caraway and cumin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, then grind them in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Set aside.
- 2
Sauté the onion and pepper in the olive oil with a pinch of salt in a large skillet over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent.
- 3
Add the garlic and cook a few minutes more until fragrant.
- 4
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, harissa, cayenne and sausages. Bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes.
- 5
Either stir the eggs through the sauce, or make four small indentations in the surface with a ladle and crack an egg into each. Both methods are used in Tunisia.
- 6
If poaching whole, reduce the heat to low and cover with a lid until the whites are set but the yolks still soft.
- 7
Garnish with parsley and serve.
Africook’s Notes
- Toast and grind the whole spices rather than using pre-ground. It takes two minutes and it is the largest single difference in the finished dish.
- Reduce the tomato sauce properly before the eggs go in. A watery base gives poached eggs sitting in liquid rather than set into a sauce.
- Cover the pan once the eggs are in. The trapped steam sets the whites from above while the yolks stay soft.
- Take it off the heat while the yolks still look underdone. They continue to firm up in the hot pan.
- For the stirred version, take the pan off the heat before mixing the eggs in and stir constantly, so you get a soft set rather than scrambled egg.
- Serve straight from the pan with bread. It does not transfer to plates well and is not meant to.
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