Asida

Ingredients

Asida

• 400 gfine sorghum flour, or white wheat flour
• 1 litrewater
• 1 tspsalt

Mullah robe, the okra and peanut stew

• 60 gweika (dried powdered okra), or 250 g fresh okra sliced thin
• 3 tbsppeanut butter, unsweetened
• 4tomatoes, grated
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbspgroundnut oil
• 1 tspground coriander
• ½ tspblack pepper
• 1 tspshatta (chilli paste), or to taste
• 700 mlwater
• 1 tspsalt

To finish

• 3 tbspsamn (clarified butter), warmed
• 1 tspground cinnamon or sugar, optional

Directions

1. Bring the litre of water to a rolling boil in a heavy pan with the salt, and hold back about 200 ml in a jug.
2. Whisk 100 g of the flour into the boiling water and let it cook 5 minutes to a loose gruel; this pre-cooked base stops the rest of the flour from lumping. Lower the heat and beat continuously for 10 to 15 minutes, pressing the dough against the side of the pan and folding it back, adding splashes of the reserved hot water when it becomes too stiff to move.
3. Whisk the peanut butter with 200 ml of the water and stir it in, then add the rest of the water and simmer 10 minutes.
4. Sprinkle in the weika while whisking, or add the fresh okra, and simmer 5 to 8 minutes more until the stew is silky and slightly ropey.
5. Stir in shatta to taste. Wet a deep bowl with cold water, pack in the hot asida, and turn it out onto a wide platter as a smooth dome.
6. Press a hollow into the top with the back of a wet spoon.
7. Pour the warm samn into the hollow, ladle the mullah around the base, and eat with the right hand, pinching off pieces of dome and dipping them.

Technique

• Asida is beaten, not stirred. The gluten-free sorghum needs sustained mechanical work to become smooth and stretchy, and Sudanese cooks judge it by how cleanly it leaves the pan.
• Weika, sun-dried okra ground to powder, is the defining thickener of Sudanese mullah and gives the deliberately slippery texture that outsiders find odd and Sudanese diners expect.
• Serve asida hot. Once it cools it sets hard and cannot be reheated to the same texture, which is why it is made just before the meal.

Substitutions

• No sorghum flour: white wheat flour makes the version served at Eid and weddings, slightly paler and softer.
• No weika: fresh okra sliced very thin, or 2 tbsp cornflour slurry plus okra, gets you most of the way, though the smoky dried note is lost.
• Tahini can replace peanut butter for a mullah tagalia style stew.

Variations

• Mullah bamia, the same stew built on whole fresh okra pods rather than weika powder.
• Asida with mullah rob, thinned with fermented yogurt instead of peanut, eaten in the hot months.
• Sweet asida with samn, honey and cinnamon, served for births and the Prophet’s birthday.

History

Served at births and at Mawlid, the plain dough dome is dented in the centre and the hollow filled with date syrup and melted butter.

Frequently asked questions

What is Asida?

Asida is a dessert from Libya: smooth wheat-flour dome pooled with date syrup and butter; birth celebrations. Served at births and at Mawlid, the plain dough dome is dented in the centre and the hollow filled with date syrup and melted butter.

How long does Asida take to make?

Asida takes 15 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Asida?

Yes, within limits. No sorghum flour: white wheat flour makes the version served at Eid and weddings, slightly paler and softer. No weika: fresh okra sliced very thin, or 2 tbsp cornflour slurry plus okra, gets you most of the way, though the smoky dried note is lost. Tahini can replace peanut butter for a mullah tagalia style stew.

What is the most important thing to get right in Asida?

Serve asida hot. Once it cools it sets hard and cannot be reheated to the same texture, which is why it is made just before the meal.