Cholent From Morocco
From chacha 14 years ago
- 360 minutes to make
- Serves 6
I hope you like this recipe for Moroccan Cholent (Sabbath stew) because it really is delicious. This recipe is also called Schenna, Hamin(m), or Chamim. dafina. Writings from talmudic times stated that eating hot food on the Sabbath was a good deed. Read more Cholent is a Sabbath dish (a meal in a pot!) that was born out of this observance. It is prepared on Friday prior to sundown and cooked overnight, in a very slow oven (usually the village baker’s oven), and brought home and eaten Saturday for lunch after returning from services. This provided a hot, hearty meal without violating the commandment against cooking on the Sabbath. When the Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, many fled to northwestern Africa across the Straits of Gibraltar. The hamin was changed, adjusting for local ingredients and then called dafina (covered) in Morocco. Every family seems to have its own version, and when you return from Sabbath services it’s the first thing you smell upon entering any Sephardic home. Any other favorite vegetables can be added, and the eggs can be removed and eaten at any time. By Sheilah Kaufman See less
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil shopping list
- 2 large onions, chopped shopping list
- 4 to 6 garlic cloves shopping list
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained shopping list
- 2 beef bones with marrow shopping list
- 3 pounds brisket or chuck roast, cut into 4 pieces shopping list
- 3 pounds small potatoes shopping list
- 2 or 3 sweet potatoes cut into chunks shopping list
- 4 tablespoons honey shopping list
- 1 tablespoon paprika shopping list
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin shopping list
- 1 teaspoon allspice shopping list
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon shopping list
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground turmeric shopping list
- pinch of saffron threads, crumbled shopping list
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley shopping list
- salt shopping list
- freshly ground pepper shopping list
- 4 to 6 large eggs shopping list
- Note: I like to add a couple of parsnip that have been peeled and chopped. shopping list
How to make it
- Preheat oven to 225°F.
- In a large pot, heat the oil and sauté the onions and garlic until soft and translucent. Add the chickpeas, bones, meat, potatoes, honey, paprika, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, turmeric, saffron, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Add enough water to cover, place the unshelled eggs in the center, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer for 1 hour. Skim off any foam occasionally. Cover the pot tightly, place in the oven, and cook overnight, or cook on low on the stove for 5 to 6 hours, or until meat is tender and done.
- In the morning, after cooking all night, check the water level. If there is too much water, turn the oven up to 250°F or 300°F, cover, and continue cooking. [If cooking over Shabbat, traditionally observant Jews would refrain from changing the heat level, for doing so would run counter to Sabbath laws against manipulating flame and cooking.] If there is no water, add another cup, cover, and continue cooking.
- To serve, place the chickpeas and cooking liquid in one bowl, and the eggs, potatoes, and meat in separate bowls.
- Serves 6 - 8 people.
- From Sephardic Israeli Cuisine: A Mediterranean Mosaic (Hippocrene Books).
The Rating
Reviewed by 6 people-
ooh fantabulous!
midgelet
in Whereabouts loved it
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Sound like it would be good!!! high 5
cuzpat
in Sikeston loved it
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