Mahkouda!

So this is my first Ramadan cooking post. Unfortunately it's gonna be simple! After work yesterday, I didn't have much time to cook, and surprisingly, I wasn't very hungry. Soooo... I made one of my fav things... Mahkouda!! These are medium-sized potatoe cakes, they are typical of Oran, Algeria. Mahkouda, usually accompany fish dishes or lentil soup, but I like them with anything!

Again, I apologize but the photography is gonna be very simple:) Here are the ingredients you will need:
1)about 15-20 regular sized potatoes ( I use between 8-10, because I'm cooking just for myself).
2) parsley or cilantro ( I prefer cilantro)
3) salt, pepper, tumeric or safron (I use tumeric, safron is expensive and I can't find any!)
4)4 eggs (if using 8-10 potatoes use 1 or 2 eggs)
5) onion
6) cooking oil

1st I boiled the potatoes for about 35 minutes (it's best to cook them a while, so they won't be hard)
Then while the potatoes are boiling prepare the chopped onion and parsley. This time I will be using cilantro.

Now I wouldn't be able to give you any measurements for this, I just chop until I think it is enough. Here I filled up half way a small bowl (If that helps any lol)

Then once the potatoes are ready, peel them and then put them in a large bowl and mash! Once you have made mash potatoes, add on spoon of salt, pepper, tumeric (thats what I used), and crack the eggs into the mix;

Here I used 3 eggs, but I should have used 1 or 2, because then it became to mushy! lol
I also like to add one full spoon of pepper, because I prefer the cakes a little spicy, but if not you can just put a regular sized spoon of pepper.

After, you mix everything by hand until you see that all the ingredients are mixed into the potatoes.
I know it doesnt look very tasty, but it will be after!
Now take some of the mashed potatoes and form balls. Then place the potatoe ball into a pan prepared with hot oil, flatten them a bit, and set the temperature to around medium-low to cook them.

Let them cook for about 4 minutes on each side then flip over. I couldn't fit all the potatoe balls in the pan, but I was able to make 8 cakes.

Here is what they should look like when they are just about ready;

Then once they are pretty much brown and starting to look crispy lol, remove them from the pan and place them on a plate with a paper napkin, to soak up the grease;

Unfortunately, this a kind of greasy food. I know it doesn't look like much, but they are sooo yummy! I also like to eat them alone or with a salad, and you can also prepare a dip to eat them with.

Hope you enjoy!

Posted by Zarga