Dchicha soup (belboula, cracked grain soup)

Method

1. 1

   Rinse the dchicha well and soak it in lukewarm water for 30 minutes to speed up cooking later.

2. 2

   Melt the butter in a deep pot and cook the chopped onion with the piece of meat, if using, until the onion softens and the meat colours slightly.

3. 3

   Add the spices and cinnamon stick, then the water or stock, and bring to the boil; then drain the dchicha from its soaking water and add it to the pot.

4. 4

   Cook the dchicha over low heat for 40–50 minutes, stirring now and then, until the grains are fully cooked and the soup thickens to a creamy, porridge-like consistency.

5. 5

   Serve the dchicha soup piping hot, either savoury with a pinch of black pepper and a little butter on top, or sweet with the warm milk, sugar and cinnamon added, the usual way it is served for breakfast to children and the elderly in Moroccan homes. Dchicha soup is the number-one warming dish of Moroccan cooking during the winter months and the Eid al-Adha season, known for warming and filling the body; it remains one of those recipes handed down from grandmothers to grandchildren as a symbol of care and family warmth.