Month: September 2019

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๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algerian Rechta with Cinnamon Flavored Chicken

Rechta is a type of noodles that is usually prepared in Algeria with meat or chicken cooked in a vegetable sauce. The sauce is perfumed with cinnamon flavor.

The vegetables are mainly zucchinis, turnips added to chickpeas.

Rechta is prepared in major occasions such as Al Mawlid Annabawi ( celebration of prophet mohamed โ€˜s birthday), Ashura, Eid Al Fitr ( celebration of end of Ramadan), marriages, etc.

For my homemade Rechta recipe, please see : https://www.myexcellentdegustations.com/%f0%9f%87%a9%f0%9f%87%bf-algerian-homemade-rechta-noodles/

If your Rechta is in your freezer, let it thaw for few hours.

Prepare the chicken sauce, then steam the Rechta (noodles).

Steam the Rechta for 10 to 15 minutes, then sprinkle about 2 cups of the chicken sauce over the Rechta in a large shallow dish. Let it absorb the sauce and let it cool.

Steam for the second time the Rechta for 10 to 15 minutes. Dump it in a large dish and add butter. Mix the butter well with the Rechta.
Rechta ready to be consumed.
Put the vegetables and chicken on top of Rechta and serve it with the white chicken sauce.
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Cuisine Algerian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 4
Author LDSโ€™s Mom

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs Rechta (noodles)
  • Chicken pieces (from 4 to 8 pieces)
  • 1 medium onion, minced
  • 1 tsp salt or to taste
  • 1/2 tsp Black pepper
  • 1 medium cinnamon stick
  • 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight and rinsed
  • 3 tbsp olive oil plus extra if needed for the Rechta
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 4 medium zucchinis, cut into long pieces
  • 4 medium long turnips, cut into pieces

Instructions

  1. Put olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

  2. Add the minced onion, chicken pieces and let cook for about 5 minutes.

  3. Add salt, pepper, and cinnamon stick.

  4. Reduce the heat to medium low then add turnips pieces and chickpeas.

  5. Let cook for a good 10 minutes and make sure to turn the chicken pieces during this time. Add hot water to cover the chicken.

  6. Increase the heat to medium and cook covered for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

  7. While the chicken sauce is cooking, prepare the Rechta ( noodles).

  8. If you use a store bought Rechta, put it in a large shallow dish then open it up with hands and add olive oil to it( about 1 to 3 tbsp). If you use my homemade Rechta recipe (please see link above), just place it in a top of a steamer and let it steam for 10 to 15 minutes.

  9. Dump the Rechta in a large shallow dish and sprinkle with about 2 cups of the chicken sauce. Gently fluff the Rechta with a fork and Let it absorb the sauce. Let cool.

  10. Steam again the Rechta for 10 to 15 minutes then dump it in a shallow dish and add 2 tablespoons butter.

  11. Mix the butter well in the Rechta with hands( if you can handle the heat) or use a fork for that.

  12. Check the seasoning of the sauce and add salt if needed. You may need to add hot water as well. Once the chicken and turnips are cooked, take the chicken out of the sauce and add zucchinis to the sauce then let it cook.

  13. In a large frying saucepan, brown the chicken pieces in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in both sides. Set aside.

  14. Once the zucchinis are cooked, serve the Rechta in a dish, garnished with chicken and vegetables. The garnished Rechta should be served with a bowl of the white sauce.

  15. Enjoy.

Recipe Notes

  • This dish may take less time to cook, it depends of your vegetables.
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๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Algerian Homemade Rechta (noodles)

Rechta is a type of noodles that is usually prepared in Algeria with meat or chicken cooked in a vegetable sauce. The sauce is perfumed with cinnamon flavor.

The vegetables are mainly zucchinis, parsnips added to chickpeas.

Rechta is prepared in major occasions such as Al Mawlid Annabawi ( celebration of prophet mohamed โ€˜s birthday), Ashura, Eid Al Fitr ( celebration of end of Ramadan), marriages, etc.

This is is my homemade Rechta recipe and there is nothing better than homemade.
To make the Rechta dough, mix semolina, flour and salt, then drizzle with water until the dough gets together. No need to knead the dough.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest on the counter for about 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into 3 pieces and roll the pieces out into large long strips or sheets with a rolling pin, then use the pasta machine.
Pass the pasta sheets in the pasta machine from the higher setting (large) to the lower setting ( very thin). You will obtain very thin pasta sheets.
Place the pasta sheets on a clean kitchen towel and let them dry from 15 to 20 minutes.
Pass the pasta sheets through the pasta machine in the part that makes thin noodles.
Make Rechta in small batches and steam it in small batches as well, to avoid stickiness.
Oil the top of a steamer and place the first batch of Rechta in to be steamed for 5 minutes or even less.
Dump the steamed Rechta in a large shallow dish and drizzle with about 1 tbsp olive oil, then separate the Rechta with hands.

Continue working with the other sheets of pasta to make Rechta. Repeat the operation of steaming the Rechta, then separate it with hands once steamed.

In this recipe, I didnโ€™t add olive oil to the other steamed batch of Rechta, since I didnโ€™t make much.
If you make a big amount of Rechta, make sure to add olive oil to it once steamed (as needed), as olive oil helps separate the Rechta (noodles).
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Algerian homemade Rechta (noodles)

Cuisine Algerian
Keyword Rechta
Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings 2

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup fine semolina
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 water (more or less)
  • olive oil

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix semolina, flour and salt.

  2. Sprinkle water over the semolina mixture, little by little.

  3. Mix everything with your hand and stop adding water once the dough gets together. No need to knead the dough.

  4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest on the counter for about 30 minutes.

  5. Divide the dough into 3 pieces. You can do this step before letting the dough rest.

  6. Dust your working board with flour and roll out each piece of dough into thin long strip or sheet, using a rolling pin (you may need to cut the long strip into half to make the work easy).

  7. Pass each pasta sheet (slightly dusted with flour) in the pasta machine to get a thin sheet. You should set up your machine to the thickness close to that of your pasta sheets, then end up with the lowest setting to get the thinest sheet.

  8. Place your thinnest sheets on a clean kitchen towel and let them dry for about 15 to 20 minutes.

  9. Pass each pasta sheet in the part of the machine that makes thin noodles.

  10. Place a plate underneath to catch the noodles or the Rechta.

  11. Once you make about a plate of Rechta, start to steam it. Place the Rechta in the top of a steamer( the top of the steamer should be oiled with olive oil to avoid stickiness).

  12. Steam for about 5 minutes or less.

  13. Work on the other pasta sheets and make more Rechta.

  14. Steam the Rechta in small batches.

  15. Dump the steamed Rechta in a large shallow dish.

  16. Drizzle with about 1 tbsp olive oil and start separating the noodles with hands. You may not need to add olive oil for the second batch of Rechta.

  17. Once all the Rechta or noodles are separated, let cool then store in ziploc bags.

  18. Place the bags in the freezer for later use.

Recipe Notes

  • I have used 3 measurements of semolina and 1 measurement of flour in this recipe ( I measured with 1/4 cup). If you want to make a big amount of Rechta, just chose a bigger measurement.
  • In this recipe, I have used 2 measurements of water, but the amount of water depends on your semolina and flour.
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