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Tamina (roasted semolina with honey)
Tamina: Algiers' toasted semolina with butter and honey, made to welcome a new baby
Word of a birth in an Algiers household brings a steady flow of visitors, and each is offered a small dish of tamina with coffee: semolina roasted in a dry pan until it smells like toasted hazelnuts, then bound with melted butter and honey and dusted with cinnamon. It is soft, crumbly and sweet, a little like a spoonable halva, and is said to give strength to the new mother. Tamina is also made for Mawlid and served with tea, with the cinnamon often sifted over in a lattice pattern. Chef's tip: toast the semolina slowly over a medium-low heat and stir without stopping; burnt dark specks make the whole batch bitter and cannot be picked out.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
- 9 oz medium semolina
- 3 ½ oz unsalted butter
- 5 ½ oz honey
- 1 tbsp orange-blossom water
- 1 tsp ground cinnamonplus extra to dust
To decorate
- 16 blanched almonds (optional)lightly toasted
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What you'll need
Spices & pantry
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 9 oz medium semolina in a large, heavy, dry frying pan over a medium-low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for 12 to 15 minutes until the grains turn an even light-brown colour and smell nutty.
15 minStep 2: Tip the toasted semolina into a bowl so it stops cooking.
Step 3: In the same pan, melt 3 ½ oz unsalted butter with 5 ½ oz honey over a low heat, stirring, just until liquid and warm, about 2 minutes. Do not let it boil.
2 minStep 4: Pour the honey butter over the semolina, add 1 tbsp orange-blossom water and half of ½ tsp ground cinnamon, and stir until it clumps together into a soft, moist crumble.
Step 5: Spoon into a shallow serving dish or small cups and smooth the top lightly with the back of a spoon.
Step 6: Dust with the rest of ½ tsp ground cinnamon, through a fine sieve or in stripes using strips of paper, and decorate with 16 blanched almonds if you like. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 290 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 44 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does tamina (roasted semolina with honey) take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of unsalted butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of honey?
- Maple syrup or golden syrup, same amount.
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