The Key to Nailing Nutty and Delightfully Chewy Freekeh Each Time

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 all the time felt a twinge of disappointment at any time when a rice-less dish landed on our dinner desk. The curiously smoky freekeh, nevertheless, was a type of grains that made me neglect 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 hen elements served with cracked freekeh cooked with heat spices and the deeply fragrant leftover poaching liquid from the hen. 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 aspect dish that interrupts the tedium of rice.

My recipe beneath is an easy 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 aspect 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 really historical grain—its use is believed so far again to 2300 BC—freekeh is durum wheat that’s harvested whereas the grain continues to be younger, inexperienced, and delicate. 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 reminiscent of millet, quinoa, and teff, freekeh is flexible and nutrient dense—it is excessive in fiber, nutritional vitamins, and minerals.

Methods to Take pleasure in Freekeh

It could 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 hen, 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 hen 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 title, 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 model with tomatoes. There are lots of methods to make the most of this particular grain however studying easy methods to prepare dinner it properly is essential to letting its distinctive texture shine.

The Key Steps for Completely Ready Freekeh

Freekeh is usually offered within the U.S. as complete grain or cracked. Except labeled as wonderful, most cracked freekeh is coarse, which is what you may 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 pleasing chew with out straining any jaws. This recipe requires cracked freekeh, so when buying the grain, you’ll want to search for grains labeled “cracked” or “coarsely cracked.”

Correctly cooked freekeh needs to be tender with the grains separate from each other. However many recipes fail to realize this. As an alternative, they usually 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 commonly ready with a considerable amount of cooking liquid is that doing so cuts down on the chance 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 methods 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 elements 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 chance of scorching is successfully eradicated with this added presoak and the proper ratio of liquid to grain. 

Easy methods to Cook dinner Freekeh

After soaking, the freekeh is drained properly, 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 proper 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 all the time supply lemon wedges when serving. I additionally advocate a aspect of tangy yogurt subsequent to it. Preserving with Levantine custom, leftover freekeh makes for a superb hearty soup when reheated with hen broth. 

A really 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 offer her 20 pound bag of rice a break.

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