Somali style stew with chicken on the side

I wanted a Somali style stew and thought I could toss something in the crock pot to cook for the day. And I thought I'd use chicken thighs, even though they aren't common in Somali cuisine.

But all I had were drumsticks.

For the stew (toss in crockpot):

- one cup white/great northern beans (no salt)

- one can garbanzo beans, rinsed

- about 1.5 cups frozen butternut squash

- about 2/3 cup frozen zucchini

- one cup homemade chicken stock (no salt)

- one cup water

- paprika

- garlic powder

- black pepper

- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped chives

- 3 whole cloves

- cumin

- a pinch cinnamon

I think.

Now the drumsticks:

I marinated six drumsticks in spiced apple cider, smearing them with a small amount of orange marmalade and sprinkling them with a 1/2 teaspoon or so (each) of brown sugar. Left them in the fridge all afternoon.

Cooked them for 20 minutes at 350, basted thoroughly with the juice from the pan and then increased temp to 425 for an additional 45 minutes.

Lohah

If you've read the early posts of this blog, you'll know that at one point I made, from scratch, 90% of my family's bread products.

Today, I went to google the name of a specific flatbread and I stumbled upon lohah, the Djiboutian/Somali/Yemeni bread that is a cross between a pita and a pancake.

I felt inspired. I scanned some recipes from the Internet and decided to have at it.

Phase one: the dough

Ingredients

• about 2 teaspoons yeast

• about four cups warm water

• a hearty squirt of honey (about two teaspoons sugar of whatever form-- you want to feed the yeast)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• about 1/2 teaspoon salt (I got fancy and used my pink Himalayan salt)

• about four cups flour (I used organic, unbleached Gold Medal that I found on clearance at Target for $2.94 for a five pound bag; I read this should be made with sourgum flour which I have worked with in the past. My friend said it requires millet.)

Now, this is a fermented dough. You stir it up and leave it sit. At least 30 minutes. I'm aiming for 2 hours. I covered it with a dish towel, dampened with warm water and set it near the cracked oven door. The oven had been 350 degrees previously. I'm trying to mimic the warmth and humidity of East Africa.

I let it rise two hours, and it presented with some fabulous volume.

At this point, the directions said to stir as a form of kneading. I did so, pleased to find a great blobby, elastic texture. Volume fell by about 1/3 at this point.

The next rise will be about an hour. I'm winging it. 

Mine got really stringy-- fry until bubbly and mostly dry on one side and cover the pan for a little bit more to finish.

Maraq (Somali style chicken stew)

I wanted something African last night and around here, the options are rather limited. We do have an Ethiopian restaurant in Allentown and my request to visit it for dinner baffled my husband.

We were too hungry after a long day. It was farther than he really wanted to go. I don't really like Ethiopian food.

He's right. I'm not fond of Ethiopian food. I don't dislike it, but it doesn't interest me like other cuisines. I realized this while dining on Ethiopian in Djibouti and grappling with what to do since my right hand was broken leaving me no choice but to eat with my left.

In Yemen, they gave me a plastic spoon. I have never been so happy to see a plastic spoon.

Today, I am hoping to avoid yesterday's drama (and there was plenty. The ten-year-old stomped off to her room and refused to come down. I was screaming. Husband was trying to make dinner and used my secret stash of spicy vegetarian "buffalo wings" that I got on clearance at Target.).

I researched Somali stews on the internet and found something for chicken... Because A. I don't have a goat and B. Chicken thighs work well in the crock pot.

I decided on Maraq. My variation of course. Because I never have the required ingredients. Yet, that never stops me. 

This is what I threw into the crockpot at 8 a.m. I started it on high but may adjust it later. I also hope to stop at the store and buy green pepper. Because the recipe asked for that and I think it will be needed.

In the crockpot:

- 1 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock, on the bottom of the crock, plus an additional 1/2 cup on top of the chicken before putting the lid on. I freeze my chicken stock in 1/2 cup discs (Noosa yogurt containers) and drop them into the crock pot like that.

- garlic. I didn't have fresh cloves so I sprinkled in hearty amounts of garlic powder and added a touch of garlic pepper. I also sprinkled garlic pepper on the chicken before adding the lid to the crock pot.

- cumin. Recipe called for two tablespoons. I apparently only have one. Just found cumin. Bought some at Indian grocer. Perhaps more than a tablespoon added. For a total of about 2.5 tablespoons.

- tomato purée. The recipe called for some high amount of tomato paste and 2 fresh tomatoes. I thought I had tomato paste. I don't. I had a 28 ounce can of tomato purée. Which since the original recipe was stove top and mine is crock pot, I hope the additional liquid will burn off. When I opened the can, I was shocked to see *how much* 28 ounces of tomato purée is. A lot. I did not add tomatoes. My family is not overly find of them, so I may or may not add them later in the day.

- spices: pepper, paprika, lots of parsley and a pinch of chili powder. Recipe asked for cilantro. Don't have any. May add coriander. Yes, need to do that. Nope. Don't have that. Thought I did. 

- squash. Recipe called for butternut but I had this hacking huge yellow squash from the farmer's market.

- baby carrots. About a pound. Husband chopped them. I wouldn't have. The squash depleted my desire to chop.

- I stirred all this and plopped a frozen pile of about 2 pounds chicken thighs (skinless) on top. I seasoned with garlic pepper (as mentioned above) and placed a disc of chicken stock on top (also as mentioned earlier).

- After talking to my husband, we have decided to add a can of chick peas (in part because I had this incredible tomato based chick pea stew at Camp Mosey Wood this summer and this looks similar). So chick peas. Two 15.5 ounce cans. Drained.

Verdict: this was incredibly delightful

Edible kitchen disasters

So my friend has rhubarb in her yard. She harvested and passed it along and I thought I'd make Smitten Kitchen's super easy strawberry rhubarb oat bars. And I didn't notice I didn't have strawberries. Or any fruit. Except for home canned apples. So I used those. 

The real recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/05/strawberry-rhubarb-crisp-bars/#more-11831

Just remember: never skimp on sugar with rhubarb

But my real goal today was to delve into Somali cuisine. (Someone in this house is pining for Djibouti.) So, I thought I'd try a recipe or two off The Somali Kitchen.

Comparing my photo to the original it seems I didn't do too badly:

www.somalikitchen.com/my-blog/2014/02/somali-polenta-flat-bread-muufo.html

My first few batches burned. I had the heat too hot. I should have heated the pan on high and reduced to medium as soon as the batter went in. I used two frying pans-- a non-stick egg sized skillet and my cast iron Le Creuset. The non stick yielded more consistent color whereas the Le Creuset was more prone to burn.