Mfarakeh

The egg is broken up through the crisp potatoes rather than set around them, which is what the name means.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (ghee).

Ingredients

• 700 g potatoes, in small cubes
• 6 eggs
• 3 tablespoons ghee
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• a handful of coriander, chopped
• salt and black pepper

to serve

• flatbread

Method

1. THE EGG IS BROKEN UP THROUGH THE CRISP POTATOES RATHER THAN SET AROUND THEM, which is what the name means -- it comes from a verb for rubbing or crumbling apart. The eggs go into the pan of already-fried potatoes and are moved constantly with a wooden spoon so they set in small separate curds that cling to the cubes, leaving the potatoes still distinguishable and still crisp in places. Poured in and left to set, the same ingredients give an omelette with potatoes in it, which is a fine thing and is not this -- the dish should be loose and crumbly and eaten by scooping, not cut into wedges.
2. THE POTATOES ARE FRIED UNTIL CRISP BEFORE ANY EGG APPEARS. Fifteen minutes in ghee, in small cubes, until browned and genuinely crisp at the corners. Egg added to half-cooked potatoes cannot be stirred without mashing them, and the result is a pan of pale paste.
3. IT IS GHEE AND NOT OIL. Three tablespoons. Clarified butter browns the potatoes harder and gives the nutty flavour the dish is largely made of; in a dish of four ingredients the fat is one of the four.
4. THE EGGS ARE NOT BEATEN SMOOTH FIRST. Broken into a bowl and barely broken up with a fork -- the whites and yolks still partly separate. Beaten to a uniform liquid they set as one colour and the dish looks like scrambled egg; barely mixed, there are distinct white and yellow curds through it.
5. THE HEAT GOES DOWN WHEN THE EGG GOES IN. From the high heat the potatoes wanted to a medium-low. Eggs on a fierce pan set into rubber in seconds and stick; lower and moving, they stay soft.
6. THE CUMIN IS TWO TEASPOONS AND GOES IN WITH THE EGG. It is the only spice and it needs to be assertive. Added earlier with the potatoes it scorches in the ghee.
7. The potatoes cut into SMALL cubes.
8. The ghee heated in a wide pan and the onion softened 5 MINUTES.
9. The potatoes added and fried over a medium-high heat 15 MINUTES, turned occasionally, until browned and CRISP at the corners.
10. The eggs broken into a bowl and BARELY broken up with a fork -- whites and yolks still partly separate.
11. THE HEAT LOWERED to medium-low.
12. The eggs poured over with the cumin, salt and pepper.
13. MOVED CONSTANTLY with a wooden spoon so the egg sets in SMALL SEPARATE CURDS among the potatoes, about 2 MINUTES.
14. Taken off while the egg still looks barely set.
15. The coriander stirred through.
16. TESTED: it should be loose and crumbly, with the potato cubes still distinguishable. A set round means it was not stirred.
17. Scooped up with flatbread.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Lebanon · All recipes