Dafina | Imamother

Tila

Tue, Dec 18 2007, 12:50 pm

Help the askenaz that wants to learn to make an authentic dafina!! I need amounts of thinks. Like how much rice do I put in the rice bag, and how much space do I leave for the rice to expand? Do I put wheat berries as well and potatoes??? Isn't that alot of carbs for one croc pot??? What kinds of meat, and what spices?? Are dates really needed??? Is there a cook book that might have a recipe?? I googled it and got nthing. (easy that is). HELP!!!!!

mimivan

Tue, Dec 18 2007, 6:01 pm

Wait for Defy's recipe. My Morroccan MIL makes it, gave me the recipe, but it never really turned out the same.

However, my many experiments with the recipe gave me caused me to create a Dafina-style cholent...It's for people who like a thick, rich, brown gravy rather than a red type of sauce...

It has quite a strong flavor, and dh likes it...

First blacken chopped onions in a cholent pot (not just brown...) One onion...
Brown meat or chicken on top of the onions.

Add potatoes, (sweet and or white), chick peas (pre-cooked or not), wheat that has been soaked, whole eggs

Add a full tablespoon (or two to taste) of Tumeric, a teaspoon of salt, a half or full teaspoon of pepper, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, a quarter cup of wine, a half a teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1 tablespoon of instant coffee powder.

Add water to the top.

Cook until it boils and then lower the fire...simmer for a long, long time on a very low fire... at least an hour and half (two hours is good)...

This isn't dafina, but a variation on a theme...sorry about not specific amounts...I really don't know myself, it depends on my mood
Smile

Sometimes the cholent looks kind of dried out when I check on Shabbos. I avoid adding hot water even if it looks this way, because there is usually plenty of "gravy" underneath and I don't want to water down the seasonings.

The top might be overdone, but there is plenty of good stuff underneath

With dafina, the wheat is cooked separately in a bag...

(the coffee powder was an idea I got from how to make reallly meaty gravy for a pot roast recipe...wine soy sauce, also my nutty idea...) Wink

amother

Tue, Feb 19 2008, 9:41 am

I make a dafine-like recipe (chamine) that my aunt gave me (she's morrocan)

fill pot in this manner:

beans (saoked or canned), chickpea and/or kidney
potatoes (white and sweet)
onions (thickly sliced)
meat
bones (optional, but adds great flavor)
eggs (nestled between bones or along meat to protect)
2 dates (in the middle, don't know why but she wrote it that way!)
1 large Tbsp. tumeric (curcum)
1 Tbsp paprika
S+P
1/2 c. dry red wine
1/4 c. honey
1 tsp. orange zest or shopped peel

Fill with water to cover

Add a bad or sweet wheat on top (semi booked wheat beries; saute 1 onion chopped and minced garlic, add 1 c. wheat berries saute 1-2 min. add cinnamon and 1 tsp. rose water, cook until dry. Add 1.5 c. water and simmer until water is absorbed. Put in rice or cooking bag and place on top of chamine.

Let cook a LONG LONG time!!!

Serve in seperate dishes (I asked a rav abou this and Borer, he said if I am removing the part I want, then I can put it in whatever bowl I want etc..., but check with your rav to make sue this is ok where you are.) - First remove the wheat, then the eggs so they can cool, then the bones (if serving place on a plate so marrow stays inside), then meat, then potatoes and onions ans lastly the beans.

It's really delic.