Recettes Algeria

Mhadjeb

Mhadjeb, also written mhajeb, mahjouba or m'hadjeb depending on the region and the transliteration, is an Algerian stuffed flatbread built from semolina dough stretched until it is almost translucent, folded around a cooked filling of onion, tomato and pepper, then griddled flat. It belongs to street food and to Ramadan. Through the fasting month it appears on stalls across Algerian towns in the hour before sunset, stacked and sold by the piece, and it is one of the dishes most associated with the table at iftar. Outside Ramadan it is everyday food, made in quantity at home and eaten warm. The name carries a story that Algerians tell about its origin. Mahjouba was said to be a woman who did not leave her house, and in Algerian usage the word carries both meanings at once, the secluded woman and the honourable one. She made these breads and sent them out with her children to sell in the market. The dish took her name and kept it. What makes it technically distinctive is the stretching. The dough is worked with oil rather than flour, then pulled out by hand on an oiled surface until it is thin enough to read through, which is what gives the finished bread its layered, papery texture against a soft, well-cooked filling.

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MediumAlgeria

Recette de Nympha · Africook

Mhajab - A Traditional North African Dish

Mhajab is a stuffed North African flatbread, and the technique is what makes it. A soft dough is stretched out until it is thin enough to see through, folded in from the sides and then from the top and bottom into a square parcel around a filling, and cooked flat on a griddle. The folding creates the layers, and the layers are the dish. It belongs to Algeria and Morocco and is closely related to the Moroccan msemen and rghaif, which use the same stretch and fold method without a filling. Mhajab is street food and it is household food for special occasions, which is a combination that usually indicates something that takes skill but not money. The filling is conventionally a cooked mixture of onion, tomato and pepper, sometimes with meat, and the version here uses beef with potato and carrot. Vegetable fillings are as common as meat ones. It is eaten on its own, or served alongside couscous, harira and salads with mint tea. Cooked on a griddle it comes out crisp outside and soft within; baked it is softer throughout and takes longer, which is the trade the source lays out honestly.

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50 minHardAlgeria · north african

Recette de Debby · Africook

Zlabia

Zlabia, also written zalabia, and a close relative of the jalebi of South Asia, is a spiral of fermented batter piped into hot oil, fried until crisp, then dropped straight into cold syrup. In Algeria it belongs to Ramadan almost exclusively. Through the fasting month it is made and sold in quantity, and it is one of the sweets that appears on the table at iftar alongside the dates and the soup. Its bright orange coils are one of the visual markers of the month. The dish travels across an enormous stretch of the world under variations of the same name, jalebi in India and Pakistan, zoolbia in Iran, zalabia across the Arab world, which reflects centuries of movement along trade and pilgrimage routes. Algerians make it their own way, built on flour, starch and yeast, and scented with rose water and lemon in the syrup. The technique has one governing rule, the same one that decides kanafeh: temperature contrast. Hot fried batter into cold syrup gives a shell that stays crisp while the inside takes on sweetness. Both hot, and it goes limp within minutes. The batter also needs a genuine rest. It is yeasted, and that fermentation is what gives the finished spiral its faint tang against the sugar.

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MediumAlgeria

Recette de Blessing · Africook

Algerian Hariri

Hariri is a rich North African soup made in both Algeria and Morocco, and the Algerian version differs from its Moroccan neighbour in one clear respect: it contains no lentils. Lamb, chickpeas, tomato and a heavy hand of warm spices carry it instead. Ramadan is when it matters most. Hariri is iftar food, the substantial thing eaten to break a day's fast, and it is made in quantity across Algeria through the month. It is also eaten at other times as a starter or a light meal in its own right, and it is served with potatoes or rice as well as on its own. It is not a quick soup, and the source is direct about starting early: the total cooking time runs to around two hours and twenty minutes, most of it slow and unattended, which is what softens the lamb and lets the spices settle into the broth. The spicing is characteristic rather than fierce: turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, paprika and black pepper together, with coriander added near the end so its aroma survives, and lemon wedges served alongside for a sharpness that cuts the richness.

3 hrEasyAlgeria

Recette de Deborah · Africook