16 April, 2013
Moghrabieh
Posted in : Poultry, Recipes on by : el Meza
Moghrabieh – Lebanese Couscous Pearls
Moghrabieh is made with small white dough balls that you can buy at any lebanese food store under the same name: Moghrabieh
Ingredients
- 750g of dried Moghrabieh pearls
- 1 whole chicken
- Bay leaves
- Cinnamon sticks
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- ½ kg of baby onions peeled
- water
- 1 tbsp of oil
- 1 tbsp of flour
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 400g of cooked chick peas
- 2 tbsp of ground caraway
- 2 tbsp of ground cumin
- 1 tbsp of butter
- 3 cups of chicken stock
Preparation
The chicken
- In a large pot, heat oil and add peeled onions. Fry until golden.
- Cook the chicken in water adding the bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, and salt.
- Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, skimming off the foam that forms on the surface of the liquid.
- Leave it until the chicken is cooked.
- Remove chicken and onions. Bone the chicken.
- Strain the stock and reserve it for the sauce and the moghrabieh.
The Moghrabieh
- In a large pot, put 2 liters of water and bring to a boil.
- Add 2 teaspoons of salt, a little of oil and the moghrabieh grains.
- Stir from time to time, leave it until the moghrabieh is cooked al dente.
- Strain the moghrabieh.
- In a large oven plate, put butter and the moghrabieh. Add half of the spices and salt to taste.
- Put on a low heat. Add a little of stock and stir delicately.
- Continue to add the stock, little by little until the moghrabieh has absorbed the liquid and the spices.
- Add a little of chick peas.
The sauce
- Put in a pot the rest of the stock.
- Add 1tbsp of flour and stir.
- Add 1 tbsp of ground cumin and 1 of tbsp ground caraway. Stir.
- Simmer the sauce until it thickens a little.
- Add the baby onions and the rest of the chick peas. (Reserve some onions for the topping if you wish).
- Add half of the chicken and only 1/2 cup of the moghrabieh cooked pearls. (Not more or else the pearls will absorb all the liquid).
Serving Tip: You will now serve this dish in two separate bowls: one with the Moghrabieh pearls and chick peas that you’ll top with slices of chicken (the other half) and baby onions and another one for the sauce.
To serve, in a plate, spoon some Moghrabieh with chicken and pour sauce on.
Bon appetit!