Douara

Ingredients

Offal

• 800 glamb tripe, cleaned
• 300 glamb lung or heart, or a mix
• 200 glamb liver, cut late (optional)
• 3 tbspcoarse salt and 3 tbsp flour, for scrubbing
• juice of 2 lemons or 4 tbsp vinegar

Stew

• 4 tbspolive oil
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsptomato puree
• 2tomatoes, grated
• 1 tbspsweet paprika
• 1 tbspground cumin
• 1 tspground caraway
• ½ tspcayenne
• 200 gdried chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 1bay leaf
• 1.5 litreswater
• salt and black pepper

Herbs to finish

• 2 tbspdried mint
• 1 tbspdried marjoram or oregano
• 1large handful fresh mint, chopped
• 1 handfulcoriander leaf, chopped

Directions

1. Scrub the tripe hard with coarse salt and flour, rinse, then rub with lemon juice or vinegar and rinse again under cold running water; repeat until it smells clean and neutral, which usually takes three rounds.
2. Blanch the tripe and lung in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain, discard that water and rinse the pieces. This first blanch removes the last of the strong smell.
3. Cut the blanched offal into 3 cm squares and strips with kitchen scissors, which handle tripe far better than a knife.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot and sweat the onions over medium-low heat for 10 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
5. Stir in the paprika, cumin, caraway and cayenne and fry for 1 minute until fragrant, then add the tomato puree and cook it out for 2 minutes until it darkens.
6. Add the offal, grated tomatoes, drained chickpeas, bay leaf and water, season, bring to the boil and skim thoroughly.
7. Cover and simmer very gently for 2 hours to 2 hr 30 min, topping up with hot water as needed, until the tripe is completely tender and yields like soft rubber to the tooth rather than bouncing back.
8. Add the liver, if using, only in the last 10 minutes so it stays tender, along with the dried mint and marjoram crumbled between your palms.
9. Uncover and reduce for a final 15 minutes until the sauce is thick enough to cling, then stir in the fresh mint and coriander off the heat and serve very hot with bread.

Technique

• Cleaning is the whole battle. Undercleaned tripe will taint the pot and no amount of spice will hide it, so keep scrubbing until the rinse water is completely clear.
• Dried mint is not a garnish here; it is a structural flavour, added during cooking, and its slight bitterness is what balances the fat of the offal.
• Douara is Ramadan food and Aid food, cooked from the sacrificed animal so nothing is wasted, and it is always better on the second day.

Substitutions

• Pre-cleaned honeycomb tripe from a butcher saves an hour; still blanch it once before stewing.
• If lung is unavailable or unappealing, use extra tripe plus 200 g diced lamb heart, which is meatier and milder.

Variations

• In Oran the stew leans on more chickpeas and less tomato, closer to a soup.
• An eastern version stirs in a handful of soaked dried broad beans alongside the chickpeas.
• Some households finish with a spoon of harissa and extra garlic pounded raw at the very end.

History

An offal dish traditionally cooked after Eid al-Adha, when the whole animal is used within days of slaughter.

Frequently asked questions

What is Douara?

Douara is a soup & stew from Algeria: tripe and offal stewed with chickpeas, mint and dried herbs. An offal dish traditionally cooked after Eid al-Adha, when the whole animal is used within days of slaughter.

How long does Douara take to make?

Douara takes 45 min including cleaning of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Douara?

Yes, within limits. Pre-cleaned honeycomb tripe from a butcher saves an hour; still blanch it once before stewing. If lung is unavailable or unappealing, use extra tripe plus 200 g diced lamb heart, which is meatier and milder.

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

Cover and simmer very gently for 2 hours to 2 hr 30 min, topping up with hot water as needed, until the tripe is completely tender and yields like soft rubber to the tooth rather than bouncing back.