Rfissa (Trid)

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Picture by: Aux Délices du Palais

I had never even heard of Rfissa before  I moved to Morocco in 2015. And mind you, I'm half Moroccan! How could I have missed out on such a delicious dish for so many years. But, no need to worry. I managed to catch up in the meantime. Now I came to find out that it's not even that hard to make at home! It's based on msemmen (Maghrebian pancake), onion broth, ginger, coriander, saffron, ras el hanout and essential fenugreek (tifiḍas in Amazigh, halba in Arabic) which gives it its flavor.And nowadays you can find Moroccan spices practically anywhere. Make sure to use the freshest produce you can find, preferably from the local Moroccan store or supermarket.

Ingrediënts:

1 free-range chicken weighing 1 kg 300 (or 5 chicken thighs)
3 chopped onions
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of ginger
1 teaspoon of ras elhanout
A few pistils of pure saffron
Salt & pepper
1 small bunch of parsley and cilantro
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
1 teaspoon of rancid butter (smen)
100 g lentils
Fenugreek (optional)
1 liter of water
To serve :
400 g flour


Steps: 

-Heat the olive and sunflower oil in a pot and add the onion, the chicken cut into pieces, the turmeric, the saffron, the ras elhanout, the ginger, the pepper, the salt, the rancid butter, the bunch of parsley and coriander

-mix well together and brown for 3 to 5 minutes. 

-Add boiling water, after boiling lower the heat 

-Cover and cook for about 30 minutes until the chicken becomes tender.

-In a saucepan next to it, add the lentils and two generous ladles of the chicken cooking broth 

-Cover with water and cook until they tender Season with salt and pepper then set aside.

Preparation of the msemen:

-In the bowl of the mixer or in a large dish, add the flour and salt and mix well

-Gradually add the lukewarm water until a nice, sticky dough forms 

-Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth, homogeneous and comes off the sides of the bowl

-After that, roll into balls and coat them with some oil

-On a surface greased with oil, flatten a ball of dough with your hand until it is perfectly fine and transparent. You can use a rolling pin if you are a beginner.

-Fold the upper part towards the middle then do the same for the lower part 

-Repeat the operation, joining the edges starting from the left side to the middle, then from the right side until you get a square

-Place the latter on a dish greased with oil while waiting to shape the rest of the balls.

-Once finished, grease a frying pan then once very hot (but not steaming) place the first square that you will have flattened slightly before

-Leave to cook on both sides

-Once the msemen are cooked, let cool and then cut them into small pieces

You can see exactly how to do it right here: 


In a deep dish place the msemen cut into pieces (you can reheat it with steam if you wish, like you would couscous) then sprinkle generously with onion sauce and garnish with chicken and lentils.

Happy munching! 

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