The bread is soft inside with a slightly chewy crust. Actually the texture depends a lot on the ratio of flour to semolina, the more semolina you use, the more chewy crust you shall get. The recipe I use doesn’t require much kneading because I keep the dough quite wet. You won’t need to roll the dough or stretch it with your hands to give shape to the breads. All you need to do is to fold the dough with a plastic spatula till it is stretchy and flexible, leave it to rise and then plop it on the baking dish with a serving spoon and roughly shape into discs with the same spoon.
This easy to make bread is what we love to have freshly baked for breakfast, sprinkled with either sesame seeds or topped with hot n spicy Harissa paste. It tastes amazing with Shakshouka (eggs cooked in tomato), hummus, yogurt or simply dipped in tea.
You can call Harissa paste the Middle Eastern cousin of Thai sriracha hot sauce. It is basically a blend of red chilli peppers, garlic, lemon, cumin, coriander and olive oil. Regional variations add a few other locally available herbs and spices too – like caraway seeds and dried mint. Topping Khobz dyal Smida or our Moroccan Semolina bread recipe with Harissa paste doubly enhances the flavour and makes it a lovely snack that you can pack for lunchbox and enjoy on its own.
Ingredients:
For Moroccan Semolina Bread:
3+1/2 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2+1/4 cup warm water
2/3 cup fine semolina
2 tablespoons olive oil + more to grease the pan
cumin seeds for topping
Dried oregano, thyme or mint for topping
Are these baked in the oven? If so, at what temperature and how long?