Harcha is a Moroccan bread and it means “rough or coarse” in Moroccan Darija. People living in the East of Morocco, especially Oujda  excel at making Harcha .
Harcha is such a great treat anytime and is traditionally served during Ramadan or occasionally for breakfast or for afternoon snacks. It can be served with a sauce of butter-honey, or with jam, or peanut butter, chocolate spread, or cheese, eggs, etc… Harcha can also be stuffed with anything, and it is made both ways, sweet and savory version and it comes in several shapes and sizes .It can be stored as well.
 
I made this bread along with the Moroccan meal where I serve Curry with Quinoa. A Chick Pea Salad, Harcha and Coriander Yogurt. 
 
This is a no bake bread, but mind you very very buttery. One needs real patience to cook it, you need to cook it on absolutely slow fire to let it cook through and through, but of course it tastes amazing and the effort is worth the patience..

Harcha

1/2 cups (250 grams) semolina
2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
7 tablespoons (100 grams) butter
1/2 cup (100 ml) milk (or as needed)
 
Step 1 – Preparing the Dough:
Place the semolina in a bowl, add the sugar, the baking powder, and the salt. Mix well. You need semolina for this recipe – so do not try to substitute it .
Melt the butter in the microwave or a saucepan.
Add the butter to the semolina and mix with a spoon. 
When it gets hard with the spoon, mix with your hands, Moroccan style!
Add the milk and mix until you get a smooth dough.
Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
 

Step 2 – Shaping the Harcha:

Turn on the heat to medium and heat the griddle.
Back to the dough… you will notice that it is drier as the semolina has absorbed the milk. If it’s too dry, add a litte more milk. 
To get perfect shapes, I am using a cookie cutter to make medium sized Harcha. You can make a large one, or mini-ones. 
The discs should be ¼” thick or a bit thicker… if they are thin, the harcha would be crispy, if they are thicker, it will be soft.
When shaping the disks use parchment paper, so it’s easy to transfer them to the pan.
 
Step 3 – Cooking the Harcha:
Reduce the heat to low – very important otherwise the harcha will burn from outside and not cook from inside – transfer the harcha to the pan, and cook for more than 5 minutes on each side. You will see that the surface gets this beautiful golden brown color and that the discs start to dry. If you try to push on them, they will feel dry. Flip and cook the other side.
Let the harcha cool a bit and cut it in half with a sharp knife. If the harcha is still too hot and the knife not sharp, it will crumble. 
Fill with cheese, jam, honey, or anything you like!

 

 

Harcha - Moroccon Bread

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