Culinary Tour of the World: Episode 3: Algeria - Mhadjeb or Mahdjouba

Welcome to our third episode of the Culinary Tour of the World. This time we are headed to Algeria. Algeria is in Northern Africa. As I started researching Algerian food, I read that the cuisine is influenced by all the exchanges with different cultures and people over centuries.  There is a heavy French influence (it was a French colony) and a common breakfast I observed was croissant and coffee.  I saw a lot of delicious recipes including pastries. I have noted down quite a few recipes I would eventually like to try out.  As I started reading more about the food and googling the traditional names, I came across several blogs and video which were mostly in French and some in what I think was Arabic. It was difficult to choose a recipe because there were so many choices! 

Couscous and a stew  would have been perfect but I thought I could make that any day and wanted to choose something new which I had not heard of.  I almost chose a pizza recipe which is said to be over a 100 years old. I finally decided to go with a street food called Mhadjeb (singluar) or Mahdjouba (plural). In my experience, street food is usually something everyone enjoys and is very special to a place, so I thought it would be a good choice. 

Mhadjeb can be best described as a flavorful savory pastry of layered semolina dough, with each layer as thin as a phyllo sheet, which is filled with a sweet and tart filling of caramelized onions and tomatoes.  The recipe made me curious. I wondered how a simple filling of just onions and tomatoes would taste. Based on the description of the pastry cover, I deduced that it would be crispy and the covering would be delicious for sure.

I had some challenges with this recipe, as the recipes I found which seemed authentic were in French and Arabic. I was able to finally leverage the French I had studied in high school and with the help of google translate make enough sense of the recipes.  The final result was delicious! I read that if this pastry is made without filling it is called Msemmen and is a delicious accompaniment with tea or coffee. So, one recipe with two uses. I am definitely going to make it again. 

Our next country will be Andorra. This has been a particularly difficult one to find vegetarian recipes for, so if you have suggestions, please add that in the comments below. 

You can find the link to all our previous episodes here and the Culinary Tour playlist will take you to all the videos. 

Here is the video link to the Mhadjeb/Mahdjoba recipe. 

Ingredients

For the cover

1.5 cups fine semolina or semolina flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2- 3/4 cup water (enough to knead a very soft dough)

oil

For the filling

2.5 tbsp oil

2 large or 1/2 kilo onions, finely sliced

2 large or 1/2 kilo tomatoes, pulp (see method)

1 tsp of garlic, finely minced

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Method

For the cover

Mix together the semolina, all purpose flour and salt and then add the water to make a soft dough. This dough needs to be kneaded really well. So if you have a stand mixer or food processor, knead it in the machine for about 15 mins. Else, if kneading by hand, after mixing it set it aside to autolyse for 15-20 mins and then knead by hand for 15 mins like you will knead bread. The resultant dough will be soft and sticky.  Spread a little oil in a plate to coat the surface. Then divide the dough into 6-7 pieces and then roll each one into a smooth ball of dough. Place this on the oiled surface. Cover the plate with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for a minimum of 30 mins to about a couple of hours. The dough (and gluten) should be really relaxed to be able to pat the dough out into a very thin sheet. 

For the filling

Grate the tomatoes to separate the pulp from the peel. Discard the tomato peel. If you wish you can deseed the tomatoes before grating. In a big pan, add the oil and the onions and garlic and cook this on medium heat till the onions are caramelized. They will start turning brown. At this stage, add the tomatoes. Then cook the mixture till it has reduced and is dry enough to form the filling. Add the salt and pepper.  You can also add 1 tbsp of tomato paste along with the tomatoes. Let this cool down.

Putting it together

Apply oil over the surface which you will use to flatten out the dough. I prefer to use a baking sheet/pan so that I don't get my countertop oily.  Then place a piece of dough on the center and using the palm, flatten the dough. Use your palms and finger tips to stretch the dough. Then stretch each end of the dough to cover more of the pan. Do this till the entire pan is covered. One ball of dough (of 7) can be stretched thin enough to fill a 12 X 18 inches pan. Then place a ladle full of filling in the center and spread it into a rectangle. Fold the pastry around this filling. Place the bottom third of the dough over the center to cover the filling. Then overlap it with the top third. Then fold the right and left dough flaps over the center to create a rectangular pastry packet. (See the video for a visual demonstration).

Heat a pan or griddle till it is hot and then turn the heat to a low-medium setting. Since there are several layers, we need all of them to be cooked. So cook it on both sides on a low-medium heat till both sides are well browned.

Serve is hot with a side of harissa sauce or ketchup.  For the harissa sauce, I blended one roasted, peeled red bell pepper, with store bought harissa spice mix and a some oil. 

Tips

Apply oil to your palms and fingertips while handling the dough, so it does not stick to your fingers. To remove the tomato peel easily, you can also submerge the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute, till the peel starts to separate. Then take it out into a bowl of ice cold water. Then you can easily peel the tomatoes and puree the pulp.