Moghrabiyeh.... Mood = The Moors

My mother and i talk alot, well recently not so much due to the fact that i have been working like mad and she was not here. But in general we talk. And most of the time about food. I think that i have this thing with food from her as she lives and breathes it. I love her for this as it shows how creative she is.

When i was growing up my mother never made the same thing twice for weeks on end and it always surprised me at how many dishes she could make to feed us all. One of my favourite dishes she used to make was Moghrabiyeh. She doesn't make this often enough and I'm not sure why because it is so delicious. I called her the other day as i have been using this wonderful food supplier of all things Arabic and one of the  products they sent me a was bag of Moghrabiyeh and i immediately made it.

Her recipe was too long and also a little too time consuming so i changed it a little as sometimes at work time is of the essence. So my version came out faster and to be honest with you tasting 90% the way my mum made it. Of course it can never 100% as it never will be. She is the greatest.

Moghrabiyeh is a very North African ingredient, hence its name, Maghreb which means The countries of North Africa. It is basically semolina balls that are hardened and cooked like rice almost, and you have to flavour them in the stock/water that they are being cooked in other wise they can get a little boring.

This dish has everything in it. Flavour, texture and deliciousness.

Ingredients :

500g moghrabiyeh
1 tin of chickpeas 
4 large onion
1 medium sized chicken
Ground caraway2 large tablespoons
Cardamom pods
salt
pepper
parsley


Method:

• Boil the chicken with cardamom pods and one onion cubes and season with salt. leave to boil for over an hour

• Use chicken stock to cook the moghrabiyeh adding the caraway powder, and check after 20 minutes. I also add some chopped onion in this to give it extra flavour.

• While the moghrabiyeh is cooking, slice the remaining onions and gently fry them off till they are caramel in colour. 

• Chop some parsley

• When the chicken has finished cooking removed the bones and separate the meat making sure you take out all the bones. 

• The Moghrabiyeh should be ready after 30 minutes maximum. 

• Mix in with the chicken and parsley and some of the caramelised onion, leave the rest for the top, adding the in of chickpeas at this point. Mix well to distribute everything equally.

• Serve and eat with yoghurt. 

This is Moorish food taken to another level.
Thanks Mama