Why It Works
- Soaking the uncooked freekeh softens the grain, which cuts the cooking time and the quantity of liquid required, and leads to tender but barely chewy grains.
- A ratio of 1 half freekeh to 2 components cooking liquid ensures grains that stay distinct but tender and don’t clump collectively.
- Often stirring the freekeh whereas cooking over medium-low warmth retains the underside of the saucepan from scorching.
Freekeh, a nutty, barely chewy historical durum wheat grain additionally typically known as freekah or fireek, was a favourite in my home rising up in Amman, Jordan. As a rice-loving child, I at all times felt a twinge of disappointment each time a rice-less dish landed on our dinner desk. The curiously smoky freekeh, nevertheless, was a type of grains that made me overlook all about rice, albeit for a second.
Within the Levant, a typical preparation of the grain is a dish merely referred to as “freekeh,” which is made up of poached then char-grilled rooster components served with cracked freekeh cooked with heat spices and the deeply fragrant leftover poaching liquid from the rooster. However the grain can be ready in a comforting soup, merely referred to as shorabet freekeh (Arabic for “freekeh soup”), or as a well-seasoned facet dish that interrupts the tedium of rice.
My recipe under is a straightforward pilaf-style preparation of freekeh that’s scented with a medley of heat spices. It requires only one pot to arrange and a half hour of energetic cooking time. A facet of nutty, smoky, and earthy freekeh, typically topped with an assortment of toasted nuts, is so flavorful it wants nothing greater than a merely ready piece of meat or fish to finish a satisfying meal.
What Is Freekeh
A very historical grain—its use is believed thus far again to 2300 BC—freekeh is durum wheat that’s harvested whereas the grain continues to be younger, inexperienced, and gentle. After harvest, it’s roasted below very excessive warmth to take away the husks after which threshed to extract the grain. This publicity to excessive warmth offers freekeh its uniquely smoky taste. A staple throughout the Levant, freekeh can be featured in North African and Armenian cuisines. Like different historical grains comparable to millet, quinoa, and teff, freekeh is flexible and nutrient dense—it is excessive in fiber, nutritional vitamins, and minerals.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
Methods to Get pleasure from Freekeh
It might be historical, however freekeh is more and more discovering itself in grain bowls at fashionable wellness cafés alongside smoothie bowls and chia puddings and on the cabinets of well being meals shops everywhere in the US. However for me, this hearty, deeply savory grain is the proper base for filling, delicious dinners. A few of my favourite freekeh dinners embody freekeh-stuffed roasted rooster, a claypot of freekeh and mushrooms cooked in a wealthy, tacky black pepper cream sauce, or the aforementioned platter of completely cooked freekeh topped with nutty ghee, charred rooster items, and toasted nuts.
In Syria, layers of freekeh, rice, inexperienced peas, and lamb make up a signature dish referred to as mansaf (to not be confused with Jordan’s nationwide dish of the identical identify, which incorporates fermented sheep’s milk, yellow rice, braised lamb, and a skinny bread referred to as shrak, and doesn’t embody freekeh). In Algeria, an abundantly flavorful soup, chorba frik, is ready with freekeh, greens, and lamb or beef. In Turkey, it is cooked pilaf type with tomatoes. There are various methods to make the most of this particular grain however studying easy methods to prepare dinner it effectively is essential to letting its distinctive texture shine.
The Key Steps for Completely Ready Freekeh
Freekeh is usually bought within the U.S. as entire grain or cracked. Until labeled as positive, most cracked freekeh is coarse, which is what you will want for this recipe. Within the Levant, cracked freekeh (the place the grains are damaged into smaller items) is ubiquitous. It’s simpler and sooner to prepare dinner and retains a nice chew with out straining any jaws. This recipe requires cracked freekeh, so when buying the grain, make sure you search for grains labeled “cracked” or “coarsely cracked.”
Correctly cooked freekeh ought to be tender with the grains separate from each other. However many recipes fail to realize this. As a substitute, they typically name for an excessive amount of water relative to freekeh, leading to a tragic, mushy oatmeal-like combination that clumps collectively. The rationale freekeh is usually ready with a considerable amount of cooking liquid is that doing so cuts down on the danger of the grains burning or the underside of the pan scorching earlier than the grains are absolutely cooked. Whereas that is true, the issue is that the freekeh simply turns into oversaturated and mushy by the point the water cooks off. My recipe employs two easy strategies to keep away from this mushy texture: soaking the freekeh earlier than cooking and cutting down the cooking liquid. On this recipe, the freekeh is first soaked for half-hour with room temperature water, which softens the grains and implies that they require much less cooking liquid. The result’s tender but barely chewy grains in a shorter prepare dinner time.
After many trials, it was clear that one half soaked and drained cracked freekeh to 2 components cooking liquid is the proper ratio for tender freekeh with distinct grains and a satisfying chew. With nothing greater than occasional stirring and managed warmth, the danger of scorching is successfully eradicated with this added presoak and the proper ratio of liquid to grain.
How you can Prepare dinner Freekeh
After soaking, the freekeh is drained effectively, then toasted in ghee, butter, or extra-virgin olive oil to amplify its smoky notes. The flavour of ghee is intently related to freekeh dishes within the Levant, and I encourage you to hunt it out and use it right here. After the freekeh is toasted, it is seasoned with a mix of heat spices, which fill the air with a wealthy and toasty aroma. Hearty freekeh can maintain as much as a spice-heavy hand. The smokiness of the grain acts as a seasoning in and of itself, mixing seamlessly with the warming sweetness of cinnamon, advanced fruitiness of cardamom, intrigue of nutmeg, and the pininess of black pepper.
After the grains are absolutely cooked with the appropriate ratio of broth, a ultimate spoonful of ghee enhances the nuttiness of the grain even additional. A squeeze of lemon provides an acidic pop to the savory dish, so I at all times provide lemon wedges when serving. I additionally advocate a facet of tangy yogurt subsequent to it. Maintaining with Levantine custom, leftover freekeh makes for a superb hearty soup when reheated with rooster broth.
A very particular and versatile grain, earthy, grassy freekeh earns its place on the dinner desk. Pair this straightforward pilaf together with your favourite proteins and greens. It’s a dish so good that it makes even an impassioned rice fan like me fortunately prepared to provide her 20 pound bag of rice a break.
The Key to Nailing Nutty and Delightfully Chewy Freekeh Each Time
Prepare dinner Mode
(Maintain display screen awake)
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1 cup cracked freekeh (6 ounces; 170g), picked over and rinsed
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3 tablespoons (45ml) ghee, butter and/or extra-virgin olive oil, divided
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1/2 medium yellow onion (4 ounces; 112g), lower into 1/2-inch thick items
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1 1/2 teaspoons floor cinnamon
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1/2 teaspoon floor nutmeg
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1/2 teaspoon freshly floor black pepper
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3 inexperienced cardamom pods
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2 cups (480ml) homemade chicken stock or retailer purchased low-sodium rooster or vegetable broth
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1 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt use half as a lot by quantity
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Lemon wedges for serving
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Plain yogurt for serving, optionally available
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In a big bowl, cowl freekeh with no less than 1 inch of room temperature water and let sit at room temperature for half-hour. Use a fine-mesh strainer to empty effectively.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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In a medium saucepan, warmth 2 1/2 tablespoons oil or ghee over medium warmth till shimmering. Add onions and prepare dinner, stirring sometimes, till they’re simply beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add freekeh and toast, stirring steadily, till freekeh is aromatic, begins to stay to backside of pan, and makes a crackling popping sound, about 3 minutes.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, and cardamom, and prepare dinner, stirring consistently, till spices are aromatic, about 30 seconds.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Stir in broth and salt, scraping backside of pan, and convey to a simmer. Cowl, and prepare dinner over medium-low warmth, adjusting warmth as wanted to keep up a delicate simmer and stirring sometimes whereas ensuring to scrape backside of pan, till freekeh is tender but barely chewy, 18 to twenty minutes. Off-heat, let freekeh sit, lined, for 10 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil or ghee and fluff with fork to mix, eradicating cardamom pods, if desired. Season with salt to style. Serve with lemon wedges and yogurt, if desired.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
Particular Gear
Medium saucepan and fine-mesh strainer
Notes
Ghee could be bought from Center Japanese, Indian, and South Asian grocery shops. It is usually more and more discovered within the worldwide aisle or cooking oil aisle of American grocery shops.
Cracked freekeh could be bought from Center Japanese grocery shops, some supermarkets, and on-line.
Make-Forward and Storage
Leftover freekeh could be refrigerated in an hermetic container for as much as 4 days.
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