Chakhchoukha
The festive dish of Constantine and eastern Algeria: pieces of a very thin semolina flatbread drenched in a spicy stew of lamb, chickpeas and tomato.
Ingredients
- 500 g fine semolina
- Lukewarm water and salt
- 600 g lamb, in pieces
- 150 g cooked chickpeas
- 1 onion
- 3 tablespoons of tomato purée
- 1 teaspoon of hot paprika, ras el hanout and cinnamon
- Olive oil and butter
How to make it at home
- Brown the lamb with the onion and oil, add the tomato, spices, salt and a litre of water, and simmer for an hour; add the chickpeas at the end.
- Knead the semolina with warm water and salt into a soft dough and leave it to rest for 20 minutes.
- Shape into balls, roll them into very thin discs and cook them in a dry frying pan for a minute on each side.
- Tear them into small pieces and warm them in steam for 10 minutes with a little butter.
- Put the pieces on a platter, pour over the hot sauce and arrange the meat and chickpeas on top.
The trick: The discs should be almost paper-thin: that way they soak up the sauce.