Ramadan: All you need to know about the movement
As Ramadan approaches, enjoy many recipes: couscous (royal or Moroccan), baghrir, tajine, pastels, harira, chorba, bricks but also msemen. The latter is a pancake that can be enjoyed as a dish or for dessert. Discover the real recipe of the movement. It’s easy!
Where does the movement come from?
Of North African origin, msemen is a puff-pastry pancake made from semolina, wheat flour and water, but also a little olive oil. Depending on the country, the movement is not served in the same way. In Algeria, it can be enjoyed hot or cold, sweet or savory. With a little sugar, honey or with a stuffing of onion, tomato and chili and sometimes meat. In Morocco, it is also used to make a delicious refissa.
The Movement’s Recipe
Serve these pancakes with some accompaniments to satisfy your taste buds and those of your guests.
The ingredients for 4 people:
150 g flour
200 g of extra fine semolina
4 g baking powder
7.5 g sugar
5 g salt
175 ml water
65 g melted butter
60 ml sunflower oil
The steps of the recipe:
Place 150 g of semolina, sugar, salt and 2 g of baking powder in the bowl of the kneading robot. Add the warm water and knead for 10 minutes to obtain a homogeneous, elastic and slightly sticky dough.
Then place the dough on the lightly oiled worktop and remove 8 balls of dough (about 30 grams each – 8 balls of dough give 4 msemens) and coat them with oil before placing them on a dish. Cover them with cellophane paper and leave for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the butter with the neutral oil. Pour everything into a bowl, mix and add 2 g of baking powder.
Flatten a first ball of dough on an oiled worktop by spreading out the dough with the hands coated with the butter-oil mixture, and do the same with a second ball of dough.
Superimpose the two pasta thus spread, and start spreading them again with the hands coated with the oil-butter-yeast mixture, as finely as possible, at the limit of transparency
Coat the dough with the oily mixture, sprinkle slightly with fine semolina and then fold each edge one by one, each time coating with the oil-butter-yeast mixture and each time sprinkling with semolina, to obtain a square.
Cook the resulting mixture in a non-stick hot frying pan (no added fat). Turn it over often during cooking, until the sides are golden brown.
While cooking, shape a second segment, cook it and so on.
Beware of the lack of sunflower oil lurking!
In what recipes to savor the msemen?
The movement can be prepared in a variety of ways. They can be stuffed with minced meat, peppers, onions and cheese. It’s a treat. Cheese lovers will turn to mozzarella or even the cow that laughs for super-fluffy moss. If they like salty dishes, they are just as good for dessert. Favor honey, jam and sugar, which are great allies. The greediest ones will spread a little spread. Yum yum!
How to store the segment?
If you want to enjoy your food over several days, you must remember to keep it well so that it is always as tasty. To do this, you can cover them with a clean cloth for a few hours. Then put them in a freezer bag to keep them as soft as you like. Then heat them with a frying pan to make a dough as good as the first day.
