Aghroum Vousoufer, Kesra Farci | Algerian Stuffed Galette

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Marhaba - Welcome!  If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed, check out the Recipe Index. Or follow me on the social network Facebook. Thanks for visiting!

 The majority people in Algeria, eat bread with every meal. In tradition and in daily life, bread is held to be a divine gift from Allah. Even other nationalities in the Middle Eastern - North African region, like the Egyptians call bread aïche which means "life itself." In the Muslim and Arab world, if a piece of bread falls on the floor, a person will pick it up and kiss it, then eat it. In Algeria, men come around collecting the old stake bread to be given to animals and you will also see people picking up fallen peices of bread, even if in the street, never allowing it to be thrown away with the trash. Algerians are ingenius when it comes to recycling the bread also. It is given to children for breakfast soaked in sweetened milk, made into dumplings for tadjines, and several desserts including this one I present today.

Many customs regarding bread can be found all over Algeria, that we may assume stem from some Hadiths found reported by Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al-Sādiq whose mother, Umm Farwah, was the grand-daughter of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, who was the son of Abu Bakr Siddiq. Abū Hanīfa – founder of the Hanafi school of thought and Malik ibn Anas – founder of the Maliki school of thought were said to be have learnt under him. But this is not confirmed or authenicated Hadiths so I won't not post them here.

 Algerian proverbs regarding bread:

"Each day brings its loaf."

"Share your bread with your friend, but do not do business with him."

"Who breaks bread with others, others will break it with him."

"Who eats the bread and salt of another and forgets is worse than a
dog."

"If the stars shot bread we should spend our nights out of doors."

I am sure many of you familar with Algerian cooking have tried the Algerian semolina galette Kesra; also called Khoubz f'tir. Today I would like to present another version of this famous and delicious bread called Aghroum vousoufer. This stuffed galette comes from the foothills of  Djurdjura in Kabylie country. It is traditionally eaten during the Winter and is stuffed with an array of dried herbs, vegetable and a dried meat similar to beef jerky called Quadid. Well, most cooks do not have this type of dried meat in their kitchen today I present a user-friendly version using commonly available ingredients so you can prepare this delicious galette all year round. I, myself like this galette since it is very easy to prepare, ecomonical and travels well. I like to make this galette to take this on picnics or pack in the children's school lunches. Think of it as an Algerian "Hot Pocket" J

This galette can be found all over Kabilya and eastern Algeria, even in some regions in Tunisia that border Algeria. Some of its other regional names are Kersa farci, kersa harra'a, M'tabga, Galette Kabyle, Aghroum Kabyle or even Thametount. For all you linguists out there, Aghroum is the Kabyle (Berber) word for bread and vousfour a term which means Kabyle bread filled with spices or different herbs. The dough is the same dough used to make Kesra (also called Khoubz f'tir, M'taqba or M'besses. In my recipe I use much oil and use water and yeast to obtain the same delicate galette but with less fat. For more information on the dough itself click here.

For the above pictured galette I've made the filling using ground turkey I use for many of my boureks Bourek Algéroise and Bourek Laâdjine with some changement but many times I use leftover filling that I have in the fridge/freezer or any other leftovers that are leaving around. This galette is delicious food recycling vehicle.

Traditionally this galette is served with rich Kabyle olive oil poured on top, olives and a glass of lben (buttermilk) but I personally think the galette is just delicious on its own, or with tea or juice. Makes for a prefect accompaniments to soups or salads, great to take on picnics or shool lunchbox.

share this on 

     

{ aghroum vousfer - kesra farci }

Algerian stuffed galette

ground beed, vegetable and cheese stuffed algerian semolina galette prefect for lunch or snack and even your ramadan table.   

SERVING

YIELD: 1 galette

ACTIVE PREP TIME: 5-8 mins 

INACTIVE PREP TIME: 0 mins

COOK TIME: 15 mins

EQUIPMENT

mixing bowl, frying pan knife

۞ = SUBSTITUTIONS

. 

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE GALETTE DOUGH

• 2 cups -500g fine grain semolina (called semoule fine n Algeria)
• 1/4 cup - 60mL of olive oil (but any table oil will do)
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp dry instant yeast like SAF 
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• almost 1 cup - 230mL of tépid water 

FOR THE FILLING

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 250-300g - about ½ pound of ground meat 
• handful of chopped herbs like parsely, chives, basil, pennyroyal and/or cilantro
• 2 large ripe tomatoes
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 3-4 wedges of creamy style cheese like Kiri or La Vache Qui Rit
• ½ tsp Ras el hanout spice mixture
• oil/salt/black pepper

METHOD

START by preparing the filling:

Sauté the onion with oil in a frying pan. Then add the ground meat to brown. Once browned add in the tomatoes, spices and seasonings. Once the meat is fully cooked, remove from the heat and allow to cool. The filling should be dry. If it's too wet you'll need to drain off the excess liquid or else the filling will ooze out of the galette.

PREPARE the galette dough:

Dry mix the ingredients - semolina, sugar, salt and yeast. Add oil and mix well. Add water slowly until a soft dough is formed. Knead the dough, until smooth. 

ESSEMBLE the galettes:

Divide the dough into 2 parts. Form each ball into smooth balls. Then flattened with a rolling pin to have 2 equally sized disks.  You may use a dinner plate or large cookie cutter as a guide if you need. Spread the cheese then the meat filling over one of the disks, then place gently the other disk over the filled disk. Make sure the edges are closed completely. Smooth out the disk making sure the filling equal and level. Prick with a fork all over the galette to make sure it doesn't bubble up. Alternatively, you can cut the galette in half or fourths then bake on the stovetop, if this is easier for you.

COOK the galette:

Heat up your Tadjine or heavy bottom fry pan. No butter or oil is needed for baking the galette here. Bake the galette on the tadjine, on medium low heat, turning it around occasionally, making sure it all areas of the galette is cooked but not burned.  Move around as needed to get a nice even golden colour. Once baked through, remove from the heat and allow to cool before cutting. When cooled, cut into wedges.

TO SERVE 

Traditionally these galettes are served in the colder months, drizzled generously with olive oil in the Kablyia region of Algeria along with a mug of fresh l'ben (buttermilk) and a bowl of marinated olives. But you can easily enjoy this galette with a side salad for a light lunch or packed in a lunchbox or picnic basket. 

KITCHEN TIPS

Storage

The galette doesn't store well so it should be eaten within a day or two. You can prepare then freeze for later for up to one month. To use, place in a saucepot and slowly bring up to temperature. It actually gets better with time.

Alternative

You may use semoule moyen (medium grained semolina) for a more rustic galette. Or mix half flour with half semolina. And you do have semolina avalible to you or have allergy to wheat, use cornmeal here.

You may substitute equal amounts of melted butter or smen for the oil in this recipe.

Variation

Traditionally Quadid, a Kabyle dried meat is used in this galette.While most do not have this sitting around the house, a dried salami will give a similar taste. Optionally you use other fillings such, Chackchouka, chopped olives, tuna, chicken or other meat in the filling. And I've used mozzarella cheese many times instead of the creamy style La Vache Qui Rit cheese and found it also delicious.

If you do not have a Tadjine then use a heavy bottomed frying pan or a flat cast iron pan. You can easily make several smaller galettes instead of one large galette. Prefect for picnics or children.

SAHA F'TOURKOUM! 

 CATEGORIES:  FRENCH, MEDITERRANEAN, SOUP & STEWS, MAIN DISHES - MEAT, WINTER, FALL, SPRING, 

SOURCE:  HENI

©  All recipes, content, and images, including any not yet watermarked, are copyright of THE TEAL TADJINE, unless noted otherwise. You are free to print recipes for personal use, but you may not republish (i.e., copy and paste) anything from this site at other blogs, websites, forums, Facebook pages, and other sites that are available to search engines, without prior written and specific permission. All rights reserved.

 HOW DO YOU like to reuse and recycle food?

Let's keep in touch! Sign up for  posts delivered right to your e-mail inbox or subscribe to my feed. You can also 'like' me on Facebook, pin posts on Pinterest or follow me on Twitter for all the latest recipes and updates.

 

share this on