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4.20.2012

M'hadjeb

M'hadjeb
Salam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah,
I have been debating on whether i should post this recipe because strictly it's not baking as it's not inside the oven, but since it's a type of bread i thought why not?
Yesterday i decided for the nth time since i got married, to try and master the 'art' of making this Algerian street food, a paper thin flat bread filled with a rich, spicy tomato and onion dry sauce.
Ingredients
Dough
500g fine semolina
1tsp salt
Water (tepid)- no precise measurement as it depends on your climate, the humidity etc
Sunflower oil

Sauce
1 x 400G tin chopped tomatoes/plum tomatoes or equivalent in fresh, you can leave skin seeds if you don't mind the texture, blend.
1tbsp Tomato puree (optional)
2 onions, finely chopped
Salt & spice blend (usually harissa) to taste
Firstly, the dough is no easy task by hand (if you have a stand mixer, use it because i did too *big grin*) and believe me it's worth because these are delicious.
Place semolina and salt inside a large bowl and mix so the salt is evenly distributed, add enough tepid water until it just forms into a dough, you then have to knead for at least 30mins, every minute or so you should sprinkle the dough with water, this helps the final texture which will be slightly sticky yet soft and easy to stretch.
Coat the dough in a layer of oil, place in a bowl, cover and leave to rest for at least 30 mins.
At this point, sit and relax with a cup of tea and piece of cake because you earnt it, OH wait a minute we forgot something, yes the filling!
Fry onions in 2 tbsp of flavourless oil, until translucent.
add salt, spices, tomato puree and a dash of water to stop the spices from burning, continue to fry for a minute or 2 before adding the blended tomatoes, reduce heat and cook until you get a rich, somewhat dry sauce. Set aside and leave to cool to room temperature (pop in fridge to speed up this process) before continuing.
Oil your hands and work surface very well, this is a must so the dough doesn't stick to the surface or you and well your cooking the flat breads in a dry hot pan so you need that oil (try to convince yourself as much as i do lol)
The amount of dough should make you approximately 8 m'ahadjeb each piece of dough should weigh approximately 100g before shaping.
Now this is where it gets tricky, with no step by step photos as my phone camera is poor, i will explain the best i can and refer you to a sister's blog which has photo illustrations.
Get 1 dough ball, pat and smooth out gently using the heal of your hand into what ressembles a large thin circle, square or rectangle (choice is yours), don't worry if your dough tears in places it won't matter once you start to fold but try and get a consistently thin surface.
Fold the top egde into the middle and then put a tbsp of sauce mixture and spread evenly, only onto the middle section of the dough.
Then, fold up the bottom edge, then the left side over as far as the last line of sauce and then the right.
If you see any sauce spilling out, then try your best to stretch the dough around it over it or using a tiny piece of extra dough, stretch thinly and stick over the spot of sauce spill(that was a tongue twister)
Dab a bit of oil onto the surface of each pan and then carefully lift the M'hadjeb onto a hot (medium to high) dry pan and cook evenly on both sides.
The sauce quantities are a little over what is required for this recipe but simply store the sauce inside a container and place in the fridge /freezer.
I used the leftover sauce today for my calzone.

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