Saksuka

Hello Cooks, before anything else, I would like to draw your attention over the right side of your screen. In line with my resolution to be a better person and to help make the world a better place, I have placed a few links to the various organisations which could use some help from us.  Please please please check it out to see if you are able to help or contribute in whatever small way that you can.  Just like the late Michael Jackson used to say it, "let's heal the world, make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race".  

One person cannot do everything to help everyone, but one person can do something to help someone. God always bless those who help others with more and when we have more, it will then allow us to do even more.  There are lives who are in need of desperate help in those linked organisations.  There is hope for them through all of us.  Again, let's try and help in whatever small way that we can and don't forget to take a minute to pray to God for their well-being, safety and happiness.  Ameen.... 

Before I start glorifying my next recipe in this post, let us also thank God for He has blessed us with enough resources to cook enough food to fill us from hunger, a home to shelter us in the day and night and also of course for blessing us with a lappy and/or a desktop plus internet connection to search for recipes.    

Ok, the recipe for today is known as Saksuka!  Yes!  For some of you who have been requesting for this recipe, here it is, one of the best there is!  There are many ways of pronouncing and spelling the name of this dish just as there are many ways of cooking it.  I got this recipe from a blog called Sajian Bersama Ibu Manja belonging to Sister Noraini where you can take a look at the original recipe.  A very great thanks to her for sharing this excellent recipe. I did however made some minor editions to this recipe to suit my taste bud or was it my appetite? ;p Anyway, it is one of my husband's favourite and it is perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.  Needless to say, a perfect meal to serve your guests. Let's not just take a look, let us stare at the ingredients, shall we?

Ingredients:

This serves 8-10 people

*Note that spoonful herein refers to 10ml volume.

2 spoonsful of ghee - you can omit this totally if you don't want to be sinning like me and substitute with just cooking oil (I used QBB brand)
2 spoonsful of cooking oil (I added this myself because I don't want to be using too much ghee.  I am trying to lose some weight remember)
1 kg of minced beef
5 large onions - diced
3 stalks green chillies - sliced on the bias (I added this myself)
5 spoonsful of bamia powder (an Arabian curry mix powder - I used Minah's brand which can be bought from Sheng Siong supermarket or local provision stores)
1 spoonful of chilli powder - optional (I added this myself for just a tad of that spicy touch but I did not add it in this time cos I run out of it)
1 small can of tomato puree (the original recipe calls for one bottle of  tomato sauce which I am not a fan of)
4 tomatoes - diced (I had left with only two in the fridge, so you will see that my diced tomatoes look lesser in quantity)
2 tomatoes - diced (I added this myself, to be used during baking)
1 pack of 250 grams of shredded mozarella cheese
8 stems of coriander leaves - chopped with stems
16 pieces of mint leaves - torn into smaller pieces
1 teaspoonful sugar
6-8 eggs
salt to taste
2-3 small bowls of water - depending on the size of your bowl - divided (I added this myself)

**Items to be blended in a food processor with a little bit of water to form a paste
6 garlics**
3 cm ginger**

Method:

1.  Pre-heat your oven at 200 degrees celsius.  Then, heat up some cooking oil (about 2 spoonsful) in pan.  Once heated, add in the minced meat.  

2.  Fry for about five minutes or until browned.  Off fire.  Drain the fats and set the cooked minced beef aside.

3.  Separately, heat up the two spoonsful of ghee and two spoonsful of cooking oil in a pan.  Once heated, add in the diced onions.  Saute for a few minutes or until the onions are withered.

4.  Add in the blended garlic and ginger paste.  Saute for about a minute or two or until fragrant.  You will be able to smell that fragrance.

5.  Add in the bamia powder.  This would also be the time to add in the chilli powder, if you are using.  Give a stir.

6.  Add in one small bowl of water.  Continue to saute until oil separates.

7.  Once the mixture looks dried and you can see oil starts to collect at the gaps or around the mix like in the picture above, oil has separated. 

8.  Add in the tomato puree and diced tomatoes.  Give a stir.

9.  Add in the remaining two small bowls of water.  Give a stir.

10.   Add in the sugar and salt to your taste.  Stir thoroughly.

11.  Add in the cooked minced beef.  Give a thorough stir.  Do a taste check and season accordingly, if necessary.

12.  Add in the coriander leaves.  Stir to combine.

13.  Add in the sliced green chillies (if I was cooking this for myself, I would have added the green chillies on top of  the eggs, just before I topped it with cheese in the baking dish. Since I do not want to cause inconvenience to my mother-in-law and husband just in case the chillies got stuck to the mozarella, I decided to add the sliced chillies at this stage).  Give a stir.

14.  Off fire.

15. Add everything into a 13x9 baking dish.  Basically, this is the time to add in the eggs. Make six to eight equally apart indents or shallow holes in the beef mix.  Break one egg into each indent or each shallow hole.  (We prefer pan fried sunny side to be served with Saksuka rather than baking the eggs in it so I did not add the eggs at this stage)

16.  Sprinkle the remaining diced tomatoes, mint leaves and green chillies all over the beef mix.

17.  Finally, top the mix with the shredded mozarella cheese.

18.  Bake at 200 degrees celsius for twenty minutes to half an hour or until the mixture bubbles and the mozzarella cheese is slightly browned on top.

19.  Ready to be served in portions with any kinds of bread!

Enjoy heaven!  Happy Kitchen-ing!!