Dafina
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup Chick-peas which have been soaked in water overnight
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 tsp Tumeric
- 1/2 tsp Mace
- 1 Entire head garlic
- 1 Onion, sliced
- 4-pound top rib, breast of beef, or brisket
- 1 lb Ground meat
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Ground cloves
- 10 Eggs
- 1 Beef tongue (optional)
- 2 cup Rice, uncooked
- 1/2 cup Vegetable oil
- 6 Yams or sweet potatoes, peeled (up to 7)
- 10 whl potatoes, peeled (up to 12)
- 4 Dates, pitted (up to 6)
- Water
DIRECTIONS
- Using a large 9-quart casserole with a tight-fitting lid, place the chick-peas on the bottom. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add tumeric and mace.
- Place the garlic cloves, onion, and brisket on top of the chick-peas.
- Sprinkle again with salt and pepper.
- Combine the ground meat, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and 2 eggs and form into a meat loaf. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place next to the meat.
- If using tongue, place that in with the rest of the meat.
- Put the rice loosely in a cheesecloth and close tightly.
- Place on top of the meat.
- Pour the oil over the rice.
- Surround the rice with the yams or sweet potatoes, the white potatoes, the dates, and the remaining 8 eggs.
- Sprinkle again with salt and pepper.
- Add water up to the top of the potatoes about 3/4 full.
- Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 1 hour on top of the stove.
- Add more water, if necessary, to keep it 3/4 full.
- Preheat the oven to 250-degrees F. and place the dafina in the oven.
- Leave overnight or for at least 10 hours.
- Do not open until ready to serve.
- Place the vegetables in one dish, the meat in another, the rice in a third, and the broth in a fourth, as a soup course.
RECIPE BACKSTORY
From www.fooddownunder.comThe following dafina recipe from Morocco is outstanding. The meatloaf, made from ground walnuts, ground beef, cinnamon, and sugar, is a marvelous Moroccan addition. By sealing the stew tightly and cooking for about 18 hours, the result is a melt-in-your-mouth meat stew. It can be served in 3 courses. The broth becomes a soup with the addition of thin, vermicelli-like fidellos noodles. Then come the vegetables, and finally the meat course. Follow this with a light fruit dessert rather than a heavy kugel.