Showing posts with label Street Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Street Food. Show all posts
8.22.2013

Algerian Karantita

Asalamu alaikum sisters & hello everyone.

Many of you may already know I recently moved home, i've been super busy packing, unpacking plus with a new born on board everything or rather I have taken a back seat and not just stopped blogging about baking but baking entirely BUT now Great British Bake Off is BACK so am I.

Today I present you with a typical street food of my husband's home country Algeria.

Karantita a savoury sandwich filling usually accompanied with a dash of harissa/hot pepper paste, it's really hard to resist.

Texture: similar to quiche with a wobble and without the crust.

Taste: SAVOURY and the perfect alternative to any meat in a sandwich!

Made from chickpea/gram flour it's high in protein plus the high salt & fat content from the oil makes it....rich!

The recipe is pretty much the same as the original (i reduced salt content a smidge) one which by umm aminah which you can find in A Taste Of Algeria cookbook.

Should you wish to purchase a copy you will find an array of Algerian classic recipes you won't be dissapointed and all proceeds from the sale of this cookbook go to supporting the ongoing charity Algerian Action which has been assisting families in Algeria since 2007.

KARANTITA

Savoury chickpea flour tart/sandwich filling

Ingredients

240grams Chickpea / Gram Flour
950ml Water
120ml oil olive oil or sunflower oil
1 large Egg (i used a duck egg but a hen egg will work just as well)
3/4tbsp Salt (it seems too much but i've reduced the amount from the original 1tbsp)
1/4tsp black pepper
1/4tsp ground cumin

Method

Pre-heat oven to 160C. Butter a 28cmX22cm baking tin (you can use any shape, size you like but remember to adjust the cooking time accordingly)

Crack the egg into a bowl and lightly whisk, set aside.

Sieve flour, salt and black pepper into a large bowl and then place contents into a blender, Add oil and water, on with the lid and blend on high for 1-2minutes.

Pour contents steadily into baking tin and top with whisked egg. Sprinkle top with ground cumin and place on rack in centre of oven and cook for 25-35minutes or until the karantita has a golden crust top and is just set, it will have a slight wobble.

Take out of the oven, cut into portions and serve alongside a salad or as a sandwich filling. Can be enjoyed cold but most prefer it fresh and warm from the oven.
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2.18.2013

Egg & Wheat/Gluten Free - Falafel

Falafel Balls Over Salad
Falafel Patties

Falafel - a deep fried ball or patty made from chickpeas, fava beans or a combination of the two.
It is a common street food in the middle east although they are becoming more and more popular elsewhere in world. Usually being served inside a pita along with salad and drizzled with tahini sauce.
Both vegetarians and meat eaters enjoy this street food and i'm sure like with my family it has a place in your home too, in sha Allah
The name Falafel is said to come from the Arabic word falāfil (فلافل), which is the plural of filfil (فلفل), meaning 'pepper' indicating this snack is spicy which is true however, for me with 2 small children, trying to get them to eat hot, spicy things is a struggle and i must say i am not a huge lover of chilli like my husband so i choose to use sweet paprika instead of hot pepper flakes but the choice is yours.

Maths/Weight problem:

As i used dry chickpeas (for the first time i may add lol) i weighed out 246grams before soaking in water. Not thinking at the time DUH that the chickpeas will take on water overnight, which of course they did and so i ended up with twice the number of chickpeas app 500g. So that is a big point to note for any future dry bean recipes Asmaa, either randomly put as many dry beans in a bowl of water to soak over night and weigh the next day the amount required for your recipe OR dry weigh approximately half the quantity you need for your recipe, assuming all beans take on the same amount of water, I'm sure they don't!
Now onto the recipe...

Falalfel Recipe

Recipe adapted from Ya Salam Cooking and About.com

Ingredients

  • 1 x 400g Net Weight =246g after being drained and rinsed OR approximately 123g dry chickpeas = 246g after soaking overnight
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons coriander or parsely, finely chopped
  • 1 egg or equivalent in egg replacer plus water required (i used 1 heaped teaspoon orgran no egg plus 2 tablespoon water)
  • 2 tablespoon chickpea flour also known as gram flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground paprika or hot chilli pepper flakes
  • 1 galic clove, crushed
  • Sunflower oil, enough for deep frying

Method

  1. If using tinned chickpeas, drain and rinse, pat dry with kitchen paper. Or if like me your using dry chickpeas, soak overnight then drain, place in pan with frsh water, bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes and then reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for an hour. Drain and allow to cool for around 15 minutes.
  2. In a food processor add chickpeas, garlic, onion, egg or egg replacer, spices, seasonings, flour and herbs and process until you get a thick paste that is fairly smooth but still with a little texture.
  3. Heat the oil to 180C, Shape mixture into as many patties or balls you require. I used a ice cream scoop for the patties and 1 tablespoon of mixture for each of the balls.
  4. Deep fry patties for 4-5 minutes and balls for approximately 2-3 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper and then serve any way you like, but for most pita, salad and tahini are a must where as i like serving mine as part of a salad or in homemade mini baguettes/bread fingers, salad, cream cheese, mayonaise and or tomatoe ketchup.
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