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Nabila's Perfect Loubia

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Loubia..Moroccan White Beans


This is our housekeeper Nabila’s method of cooking loubia. She said you can also use a little bit of khlea, preserved beef confit, for flavor. I did it the last time I made it and loved it... just a few fatty pieces of the confit mixed into the loubia made a big difference. Khlea will keep in the fridge for a very long time, at least 3 months, although I can almost guarantee you'll use it up much more quickly. Here are a couple of good khlea recipes: 

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Loubia or Fasoulya

   Ingredients (makes 8-10 bowls of loubia):
  • 2 cups of white beans, called loubia in Morocco. Elsewhere, they're called navy beans, great northerns (i.e., the beans in Yankee bean soup) or cannellini. You know what they are. 
Step 1) Soak the beans overnight in the pressure cooker, using enough water so that they remained submerged, then cook under pressure (steam setting) for 10 minutes. Let cool.

 Step 2) Meanwhile, add the following to a separate mixing bowl:
  • 1 large onion sliced small
  • 2 tomatoes, 1 grated, and 1 chopped
  • 2-3 garlic cloves minced
  • 6-10 sprigs of Italian leaf parsley (maadnous), chopped. Cilantro (kuzbour) is an acceptable substitute and is preferred in some homes, especially in the south.
  • 1 tea glass of olive oil

 Step 3) Then add the following seasonings to the vegetable mixture: 
  • 1 tsp salt (melh)
  • 1 tsp tomato paste
  • 1 heaping teaspoon ginger (known as skinjbir in Morocco)
  • ½ to 1 tsp turmeric (kharkoum)
  • ½ to 1 tsp black pepper (bzar)
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper (fulfla har)
Optional
  • cup of "khlea", which is a beef confit, a specialty of Fes. I'll also use salt pork or ham. If these are heavily salted, boil the meat in a pan on low until the water evaporates.

 Step 4) Add the vegetable mixture to the beans in the pressure cooker, mix, then add enough water to cover the mixture sufficiently by an inch:

 For a cooker that's 22 cm in diameter, that's a little less than 1 liter, or a little more than 1 quart. I did the math, because I can't really tell what an inch is when I'm pouring water into the cooker full of beans and seasonings, because the mixture starts to float as soon as the water level rises above the it. So first add enough water to reach the top of the mixture. Then:

Volume of a cylinder:
 V=πr2h, where:

 V is the volume of water, 
π is 3.14159,
r is the radius of the cooker, or half the diameter (22/2, or 11) 
h is the height of water, 1 inch, or 2.54 cm. So, V=3.14159 X 11 cm X 11 cm X 2.54 cm = 965 cm3, or .965 liters. 
People who say math is useless are like Fox news commentators. If they don't understand something, they just ridicule it.

Step 5) Cook the loubia under pressure (setting 1) for 30 minutes.
   
Check after about 20 minutes to see if the beans are tender.  If not, cook an additional 10 minutes or more until the beans are as soft as you like.  Add salt to taste, and serve with Khubz, Moroccan flat bread or crispy bread. Bsaha wa raha! To health and comfort.

Let me know how you like this. Your comments are welcome.
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