Berkoukes d'Oujda (بركوكس)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide gsaa or large shallow tray for rolling semolina
• •Coarse sieve and fine sieve
• •Heavy 5L soup pot or clay marmite

Instructions

1. 1

   Bloom and gather

   Bloom the saffron threads in 3 tablespoons warm water until the water turns gold and smells floral. Drain the soaked chickpeas. Set the herbs, spices, meat, and vegetables close to the pot before you begin, because once the onion starts melting, the broth asks for your attention.

2. 2

   Roll the pearls

   Pour the semolina into a wide gsaa or shallow tray and mix in the salt. Sprinkle in lukewarm water with your fingertips, a little at a time, while circling your palm through the grain. The semolina should gather into rough pearls, larger than couscous and smaller than chickpeas. Dust with a little dry semolina when the pearls feel sticky, then rub again until they round themselves.

   La balance est dans les yeux, the scale is in the eyes. Stop adding water before the semolina clumps into dough; you want separate pearls, not paste.
3. 3

   Sieve and rest

   Pass the pearls through a coarse sieve to shake away the loose dust, then through a finer sieve if you have one to catch the tiny grains. Spread the berkoukes on a cloth-lined tray for at least 30 minutes. This short rest dries the surface so the pearls enter the broth as grains, not as one heavy mass.

4. 4

   Start the broth

   Warm the olive oil and smen in a heavy soup pot. Add the lamb, grated onion, ras el hanout, paprika, cumin, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, and a good pinch of salt. Stir over medium heat until the onion loses its raw bite and clings to the meat, and the spices smell warm rather than dusty.

5. 5

   Cook the tomato

   Add the grated tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook, stirring often, until the tomato darkens slightly and the oil shows at the edge of the pot. This is where the broth gets its body; if the tomato stays raw, the whole soup tastes unfinished.

6. 6

   Simmer the meat

   Add the soaked chickpeas, coriander stems, celery, dried chile if using, bloomed saffron with its water, and 2.25L water or light lamb broth. Bring to a boil, lower to a steady simmer, cover partly, and cook for 60 to 75 minutes, until the chickpeas are nearly tender and the lamb gives when pressed with a spoon.

7. 7

   Add vegetables

   Stir in the lentils, carrots, and turnip. Simmer for 20 minutes more, until the vegetables are tender but still holding their shape. Taste the broth now and correct the salt. It should taste complete before the pearls go in, because the berkoukes will drink what you have made.

8. 8

   Cook berkoukes

   Raise the heat so the soup moves with a lively simmer. Sprinkle in the berkoukes slowly with one hand while stirring with the other, so the pearls don't settle and catch at the bottom. Cook 18 to 25 minutes, stirring often, until the pearls are tender through the center and the broth has thickened but still moves like soup. Add hot water as needed; berkoukes is generous in the bowl and greedy in the pot.

9. 9

   Finish and serve

   Discard the tied coriander stems and the chile if you want a softer heat. Stir in the chopped coriander and parsley, taste once more, and let the pot rest off the heat for 10 minutes. Ladle into wide bowls with plenty of broth, a gloss of olive oil if you like, and torn khobz on the table.

Chef Tips

• •If you buy dried berkoukes or mhammsa from a Moroccan grocer, call it what it is: a help for a busy day, not the old hand. Shake off excess dust and add it near the end just as you would the hand-rolled pearls.
• •The broth must be looser than you think before the pearls go in. Berkoukes thickens as it cooks and again as it rests, so keep hot water ready and adjust without shame.
• •Buy ras el hanout from someone who'll tell you what is in it. With ras el hanout, you don't cheat, and a tired pre-ground tin will flatten the whole pot.
• •Do not treat berkoukes like Friday couscous. Couscous is steamed in passes over the broth, and the damp cloth around the couscoussier seam traps the steam because steam is the only thing cooking that grain. Berkoukes is larger, made to simmer and drink the soup.
• •Preserved lemon belongs beautifully to other Moroccan dishes, but don't force it here because you expect every Moroccan pot to taste the same. Oujda's bowl wants tomato, chickpea, lamb, cumin, saffron, and the frontier warmth of its spice.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the chickpeas 8 to 12 hours ahead, then drain them before cooking.
• •Roll the berkoukes up to 24 hours ahead and dry it on a cloth-lined tray. Cover lightly once dry.
• •The broth can be cooked a day ahead without the berkoukes. Reheat it, loosen with water if needed, then add the pearls before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 520g)