Ejja - Libyan Omelet/Frittata - عجة

Ejja is an egg-based dish similar to an omelet or frittata, made with chopped potatoes, tomatoes, chillies and fresh herbs such as coriander or parsley. This recipe is traditionally cooked in the oven but it may be cooked in a frying pan too. It is perfect for the iftar table with Libyan soup, or wrapped inside a piece of ftat, Libyan stove top flat bread.

Ingredients
(serves 6)


1 medium potato
1 tomato
1 chilli (devein or replace with paprika if you want less heat)
2 cups chopped parsley
1 cup coriander 

1 cup chopped onion and spring onion
1 teacup milk
4 eggs
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
black pepper, salt to taste

Chop all the ingredients, chopping quite small.

Saute the potatoes.

Saute the onions.
 

Put the onions and potatoes, add the other ingredients.

Add the milk, breadcrumbs and flour. The mixture should be thick.

Put some oil in the pan, wait until it gets hot and add the mixture. Flip to the other side after a few minutes when the bottom is set.

Alternatively, grease a casserole with oil. Place in the oven for a few minutes, then remove and add the mixture. Leave in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Serve warm, with soup, bread or wrapped inside ftat as below.

Green Broad Bean and Artichoke Salad - Salatet Fool Akhdar - مدمس فول أخضر ليبي

This salad is  healthy, easy to put together and bursting with flavour. It is both simple and versatile. The green broad beans can be served warm with rice, or cold as a fresh tasting side dish eaten with bread to soak up the dressing. Leftovers make an excellent packed lunch.  The artichoke is an optional extra which lifts the dish to another level. We use frozen green broad beans and frozen artichoke bottoms which can be found at middle-eastern grocers. 

Serves 6 as side dish, 2 as main

Ingredients

400g green broad beans

6 artichoke bottoms 

1 red chili

1 green chili

1 garlic clove

Generous drizzle of olive oil 

Salt to taste

Juice of half a Lemon

Boil green broad-beans and artichoke bottoms until fork-tender.

Pulse garlic with red and green chilies in the mixer.

Add salt, lemon juice and olive oil to make the dressing.

Drain the beans and artichoke bottoms, dice the artichoke, then mix in the dressing while the vegetables are still steaming hot. Serve warm or cold.

Libyan Herb Bread - Khubzah bil A3shab خبزة بالأعشاب

This is a recipe for savory bread with a spongy texture which uses sfinz dough, and comes out soft and just right every time.   In Libya, it is customary to sit around to gossip and drink tea in the evening, and the tea (flavored with anything from mint and sage to almonds and rose petals) is usually served with baskets of savory finger  food, from herb bread to stuffed burik and savory cookies.  This recipe is a perfect addition to the basket. 

Ingredients

Dough:

1 cup warm milk and 1/2 cup warm water (or one and a half cups warm water) 

1/2 cup warm water for the yeast  (25g fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon dried yeast + 1 teaspoon sugar) 

4 cups fine white flour
About 50ml olive oil
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon baking powder

Flavorings According Taste:
Thyme
Parsley
Rosemary (optional)
Green and/or black olives
Paprika
Chili peppers (optional)
Cheese (optional)

For the dough, put all the liquid ingredients together and mix well with the yeast and sugar. Add the flour with baking powder and salt. It should be a soft dough.

Mix the chopped ingredients with the dough.

Add the olive oil and mix well. Cover and set aside and leave to rest in a warm place around an hour.

Preheat the oven at 220 C. Grease a loose base cake tin (about 20cm by 20cm), pour in the dough and smoothen. Brush generously with olive oil. Put in the hot oven until golden.

Remove from the cake tin and leave to cool. Serve with mint flavored tea. 

Libyan Home-made Pasta: Megata/Rishdet Burma مقطع/رشدة برمة

Megata (literally: chopped) is also known as Rishdet Burma in Tripoli - Burma means pot and this is to distinguish it from Rishdet Kaskas, another kind of fresh pasta steamed in a couscous pot. Megata is a Libyan dish of fresh home-made pasta cooked in a tomato-based sauce, often made  with gideed (dried meat). Depending on the region, the dish can include different kinds of additions. In the west Megatat is made with  beans, lentils, fava beans, chickpeas and fenugreek. The eastern method is with coriander, basil and fresh mint. A lighter version of Megata is cooked in milk or buttermilk instead of a tomato-based sauce. There is another variation (which is good for colds) where the pasta itself is made with a mix of thyme and flour, and served in a thyme and olive oil sauce.

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

Dough

6 cups of flour

3 cups of water

1 tsp salt

Sauce 

2 handfuls chopped Gideed (or 500 g cubed fresh beef or lamb)

1/2 cup of oil

1 finely chopped onion

2 finely chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste

3 finely chopped cloves of garlic

1/2 cup lentils

1/2 cup of pre-soaked chickpeas
1/2 cup of dry fava beans

1/2 cup of fresh fava beans
2 fresh hot chillies (optional)

Spices

1 tablespoons fenugreek
1 teaspoon red pepper

2 teaspoons tumeric

1 teaspoon black pepper

Salt to taste (remember that the gideed is salty!)

 

Pour the flour in a deep bowl, add the salt, make a hollow in the center and add the water gradually, until the dough is firm. The dough is meant to be hard. Cover and leave to rest while you make the sauce.

 Stir the gideed in a little oil.

Add the tomato paste, chopped tomato and onion and the spices. Stir on medium heat for a few minutes.

Add the pulses and chickpeas.

 Add the garlic and chillies, then about 1 liter of water to the pot and cover and leave the sauce on medium low heat for around half an hour. Meanwhile return to the dough!

Once the dough has rested, form into a 'loaf' and cut into 'slices'.

Powder each side of each 'slice' with plenty of flour.

If you have a pasta machine, put each piece of dough through the lasagna roller and layer the resulting lengths on top of each other, with a (very generous) dusting of flour in between to prevent sticking.

Cut each length into half and thin out again by putting through the machine for a second time.

The third time, put the dough through the tagliatelle cutter.

If you don't have a pasta machine, use a rolling pin to thin out each piece, then begin chopping from one end into noodles/tagliatelle. I've demonstrated using only one layer, but you should stack four layers with plenty of flour in between then begin chopping.

Add about 1 liter of water to the sauce pot. Bring to boil. Throw the pasta in the pot, a bunch at a time rather than all at once and stir gently. Let it cook for around 20 minutes.

Serve warm with wholemeal bread and lemon wedges.

Libyan Potato Fritters with Cumin and Coriander: Aqras Batata Mabshura أقراص بطاطا مبشورة

These fritters are easy to make and virtually fail-proof, unlike the more finicky hash browns. They are also very versatile: as a side dish, as part of a selection of finger-foods, or with a salad as the main meal. Harissa or yogurt dips (mild or spicy) are great sauces to serve alongside the fritters. This is the sort of recipe that is easily adapted to taste, or what you have in your store cupboard: vary the seasonings and herbs, add vegetables (e.g peas, paprika, leek, cauliflower) or use up leftovers (e.g chopped cooked chicken, cheese).

Makes about 30 fritters
Ingredients
3 medium potatoes, grated
1 large onion finely chopped
2 red chili peppers, finely chopped (optional)
1 cup finely chopped parsley
1 cup finely chopped fresh coriander
2 large garlic cloves grated

3 eggs beaten
3 heaped tablespoons flour
3 teaspoons cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Vegeable oil for frying

            

 Grate the potatoes using the largest holes of your grater, then combine with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.

Mix well.

Each fritter should use one heaped tablespoon of the mixture.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Fit in as many fritters as you can at a time. Fry on medium heat until golden on each side.

Remove from oil and put on kitchen towel to remove excess oil.

The fritters should be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside and must be served warm. If you have not used the optional chilies in the recipe, or if you like extra-spicy food, serve with harissa. Otherwise, serve with yogurt dips: either mild cucumber and mint yogurt sauce or spicy garlic, chili and coriander yogurt sauce.

Arabic Boiled Flour Pudding: Asida العصيدة

Asida is a boiled flour pudding cooked directly in water. It is a popular traditional dish served in Libya during celebrations such as births or Eid. It is made of wheat flour or whole-meal flour dough cooked in water, and is eaten with honey or date syrup and melted butter. Some people use olive oil or samn (ghee) instead of butter. It is usually eaten for breakfast. Like bazeen, asida is a communal meal served in a large flat plate or gas'a, and it is generally eaten with the fingers, although spoons can be used. While Bazeen has Amazigh origins and is a purely North African dish, this boiled flour pudding has an Arabic name and versions of Asida are made in the Arabian Peninsula.

Take a look at the steps for the smiley face asida for children. 

Ingredients
Serves 4

25g butter
1tsp salt
300g flour
1 litre boiling water

Served with:
Honey or date syrup
Melted butter or ghee

Fill a deep pot with 1/2 litre hot water. Add 25g butter and a teaspoon of salt.

Leave on medium heat until the water starts to boil.

Sift the flour then pour it into the pan all at once then remove from heat.

Immediately start to stir the flour into the buttery water.

Press the dough against the side of the pot to remove lumps. 

Once the dough is smooth, with the help of the wooden spoon form it into one lump.

Put the pot back on the heat and add another half liter of boiling water.

Use the wooden spoon to form some hollows in the dough. Do not cover and leave to cook on low heat until the water is absorbed.  Midway during this process, turn the lump upside down.The dough's cooking takes about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat. Immediately begin kneading, using a wooden spoon to smooth the asida. If you have a machine that will knead bread dough then it will handle asida fine. 

Melt about 75g of butter or samn (ghee).

Brush a wide plate with butter.

Place the asida in the center and begin folding in the edges to form a smooth dome.

Once the edges are folded in, roll the asida to even out any cracks.

Turn upside down and use a buttered ladle to form a hollow in the asida.

Pour the melted butter or ghee around the asida.

Pour honey or date syrup in the hollow. Serve immediately.