Peter Aitken said:Quoted message said:
Kneading is what makes the dough spring back. After
kneading you need to let it rest for a while - 15
minutes maybe - to let it loose its springiness so you
can roll it out.
BTW sounds like a great recipe. Are you willing to post it?
Thanks...and I just realized what a great speller I am..🙂
I guess I am just impatient because it always seems that
when I am watching my SIL--that there is no resting
time....but I shall try to be more patient. She kneads kinda
funny too....with her fists clenched and rocks her knuckles
back and forth into the dough. It is something I just can't
get comfortable doing and I don't know if it makes a
difference.
Here is the recipe....btw ...the fried bread part can be
eaten like pancakes with butter and syrup or honey....
Tracy
Chicken with Onions and Fenugreek
8 Chicken Legs or 2 small Chickens cut up 2 or 3 onions
sliced Olive oil 1 small bunch each cilantro and parsley
tied with string (5 sprigs each approx.) ½ cup Lentils,
washed 2 tbls whole fenugreek ¼ tsp. ginger ¼ tsp. turmeric
Pinch saffron (optional) ¼ tsp. smen (see note) Salt and
pepper (this recipe requires a lot of salt-probably at least
a tablespoon-if not more Water
Heat ¼ cup olive oil in a large dutch oven. Add chicken and
onions and cook for a few minutes. It is not necessary to
brown the chicken. Add salt, pepper, ginger, turmeric, and
saffron if using. Cook on low with a cover for about 20
minutes. Add the lentils, fenugreek and enough water to
barely cover the chicken. Cover and simmer till chicken is
done and lentils are cooked through-about 30-40 minutes.
While the chicken is simmering you can start the m'simmen.
The chicken will be done before the m'simmen are but you can
reheat the chicken very quickly at serving time.
Smen is aged butter that has a very strong flavor. You
either like it or you don't. My SIL brought back with her
several jelly jars full of the stuff from her last trip
to Morocco.
M'simmen
These pancakes are very labor intensive but the
ingredients are few.
Warm Water Equal parts durum flour and all-purpose flour
Salt Vegetable oil
It is an art not a science to making these and I have only
made them a few times on my own with varying quality. Try
doing this with smaller amounts of flour for practice. There
is A LOT of kneading and you get tired quickly.
Combine about 3 cups each of durum flour and all purpose
flour with 1 Tablespoon of salt. Sprinkle with warm water
until you can form dough. It all depends on the weather how
much water you will need-probably about a cup or two. Knead
the dough till it is not too sticky any more and then
sprinkle more water on it and incorporate it into the dough.
Do this a couple of times until the dough is soft. My SIL
and I did this recently and we were kneading for a solid 20
minutes. I might try this in my mixer someday soon…. Oil the
big mound of dough with a bit of oil.
Next, oil a clean platter and your hands. Tear away
tangerine sized chunks of dough and as if you were making a
roll pull the sides under to make a nice smooth ball. You
can also push the dough between your connected index finger
and thumb. Everything should be nicely coated with oil.
Oil your clean counter and your hands and take the first
formed ball and spread it out as thin as you can, starting
from the middle of the ball. They should spread very easily;
if they don't you did not knead the dough enough. Tears in
the dough are ok. They should spread to about 12 x 12. Fold
it in thirds turn and fold into thirds again. Set aside. You
should have something about 3 inches square. Repeat with
remaining balls of dough. You should be sprinkling the dough
with oil as you go as well.
These are now ready for cooking. Heat a large flat heavy pan
(I use a cast iron griddle) and sprinkle with a bit of oil.
Take one of your folded "packets" and spread it out to about
5 x 5 inches square and place on the hot pan. Let it brown
on both sides. A little bit of black is ok. They take about
5 minutes a side. Set the finished ones aside in a large
platter with a lip that will serve as your serving dish. I
use a large pasta style platter. After you have a couple
finished, you need to shred them. When you folded them you
created a bunch of layers. Now each layer needs to be
separated. Just pull them apart and tear the layers into 2
inch pieces. The outside is crisp and the inside is soft.
Just tear everything up and keep them covered with a towel.
When you have only a couple of packets to finish turn your
chicken back on to heat up.
When your chicken is hot, ladle some broth onto the shredded
pancakes. They absorb a lot. You don't want so much that the
broth pools up under the pancakes. Just enough to really
moisten them. Place the chicken on the pancakes and the
lentils should be on top of the chicken.
Enjoy!
