A Moroccan Breakfast

I love finding out what people eat for breakfast. I especially Love a good Asian breakfast. They don't differentiate between breakfast, lunch & dinner. Instead of a sweet breakfast like we usually have in Western countries they go straight for the savoury strong flavours of chilli, salt, herbs... So on the theme of savoury breakfasts, today we go to Morocco for breakfast - with a little Indian thrown in - no pun intended, this is a vegetarian weblog.

Moroccan Vegetarian Stew

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients -

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium cooking onion, chopped
• 2 cloves minced or pressed garlic, optional
• 1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes in their juice
• 3 cups shredded cabbage
• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 zucchini, chopped
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup seedless raisins
• 1 (19 oz.) can cooked chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon, or to taste (try starting with just a sprinkle if you’re nervous!)
• Sprinkle brown sugar, optional

Method -

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion to pan and stir. Sauté for several minutes, then add garlic.
3. Add diced tomatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, raisins, cabbage, and chickpeas to the pan.Add cinnamon. Now is a good time to put the couscous on to cook.
4. Simmer the stew about 20 minutes, covered.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve on a bed of couscous.

This goes beautifully with an Indian roti. This recipe is from Poh's kitchen.

Roti Chanai

Ingredients - makes makes 8-10 roti

• 500g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 1/3 cup water
• 2 tbs condensed milk
• 2 tbs margarine, at room temperature
• ½ egg, lightly whisked
• Extra margarine
• Extra vegetable oil

Method -

1. Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Make a well at the centre of the dry ingredients and into it, pour the water, condensed milk, margarine and egg. Work in a circular motion with your hand, gradually gathering more and more of the flour into the wet ingredients until you more or less have a single mass. Tip all the ingredients onto the bench and knead until smooth and elastic. Roll into a cylinder and divide the dough into ten pieces. Knead each piece a few times to achieve a smooth texture, then shape into a ball. Gently cover each ball with margarine and rest in a bowl alongside but not on top of another. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in room temperature, overnight.
2. After the overnight resting you will find the dough soft and stretchy. Now the fun part begins. Start by oiling a substantial area of the bench liberally. Place one of the balls of dough onto the table and press down with the palm of your hand while moving it in a circular motion. This is just to flatten and smooth out the surface of the dough as much as possible before you stretch it. It takes a bit of practice to throw the roti the professional way and while it's definitely quicker, an equally effective method is to work around the edges of the circle of dough, gently stretching the edges outwards as far and as thinly as you can (so it is like tracing paper and about 60 to 70 centimetres in diameter), and before holes start to appear.
3. Fold a third of the way in on either side of the circle, so you have three layers of roti on top of each other, then fold this elongated shape into thirds again, so you end up with a squarish shaped roti. Heat up your frypan on high heat with a dash of vegetable oil and panfry the roti until golden blisters appear on both sides. When cooked, immediately slide the roti onto a chopping board, wrap your palms around the edges and smash your hands together so the roti bunches up and flakes. Rotate the roti and do this several times while it is still hot. Serve immediately.
4. Tip: Before each fold, gently smear a small dollop (about a quarter of a teaspoon) of margarine onto the roti. This will prevent the layers from sticking and help the roti cook more evenly. 

And to top it all off -

Moroccan Mint Tea

Ingredients

• 1½ tablespoons green tea (or 2 teabags of green tea)sometimes I just double the mint leaves.
• boiling water
• 3 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
• handful (about 2 tablespoons) of fresh or dried spearmint leaves

Method

1. Put the tea in a 2-pint teapot and fill it with boiling water.
2. Let the tea steep (soak) for 2 minutes.
3. Add mint leaves and sugar to taste.

When it is in the teapot, pour it from a height into the cups, tip it back into the pot & pour again. It can be done up to three times - an auspicious number - Father, Son & Holy Spirit - Bhrahma, Vishnu & Shiva...

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We have these Baghir every now & then for morning tea - & sometimes breakfast. They are child friendly & a yummy change to pikelets.

Ingredients -

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• 1 cup of fine semolina
• ½ cup flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tsp. dry yeast
• 2 tsp. sugar

Method - 

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• In a bowl, mix semolina, flour, salt and baking powder.
• Mix it with with warm water and yeast diluted in warm water and sugar. Preserve the mix and let it rise 1 hour. Just before cooking stir with ladle.
• Pour a small quantity into a hot smooth pan. Cook Baghir on one side only.
• Serve hot with a mixture of honey and melted butter/ghee/olive oil or yoghurt & jam.

This is Berry - you can find more of her delicious recipes here. Remember you can have all these recipes for breakfast, lunch or dinner!