Maakouda - Moroccan Potato Patties

Maakouda are delicious and vegan potato patties and are Moroccan street food. In a nutshell, these are delicious and spicy potato filling dipped in yeasted batter and deep fried. Doesn’t that sound divine?

Moroccan cuisine is packed with spicy and yummy foods. Some of the foods are cooked in a special utensil called tagine, and the shape of the tagine aids in cooking the foods in its own juice, enhancing the flavors. The simple and spicy flavors make any meal outstanding. If you want to have a delicious Moroccan stew, this Spicy Moroccan Vegetable Tagine is the one to try. 

When I was exploring the cuisine of Morocco in another blogging group, I stumbled on this Maakouda. I came across this My Moroccan Food and watched a couple of Youtube videos about this snack. My recipe is a mixture of these. I took a few pointers from these. Maakouda can be served as a snack by itself, it can be served between buns as a bigger snack or meal, and that is also a popular street food in Morocco.

Though the patties may sound and look very much similar, there are a couple of minute differences between the two. Parsley is not added in the Indian aloo patties while it is added in Maakouda. The batter in which the patties are drenched and deep fried is made with a little yeast and all-purpose flour in maakouda while yeasted batter is not used in Indian aloo patties. Speaking of yeasted and fried foods, this all-purpose flour and yeast combination reminded me of the Hungarian Langos and the Italian Panzerotti, which is also a popular street food in Hungary. 

Have you ever wondered about a delicious snack that is so yum and close to your heart? There are a couple of reasons why this was immediately loved in our home.Vada pav is a delicious snack with aloo patties inside a bun. Maakouda is the Moroccan version of the potato patties inside the famous Indian Vada Pav. Now this Maakouda will make all the sense why it was loved by us instantly. Both of them are popular street foods that are addictive to the last bit. Maakouda is served inside a bun with a schmear of tomato harissa sauce whereas aloo patties with a little chutney makes the vada pav. 

These garlicky patties are not so tough to make. Cook the potatoes, and while they are cooling, make the batter. A dipping sauce can also be fixed during this time too. Mash the potatoes with seasonings, drench them in the batter, and deep fry. In about 40-45 minutes, this could be brought to the table. 

To me, these are divine and I could have these any time of the day. If it’s a rainy day, along with a cup of masala chai, these patties are heaven.  Plus, leftovers, if any, could be used to make a meal too. Totally win-win in every way with these delicious patties.

This month in our Shhh Secretly Cooking group, we are sharing recipes under the theme World Street Foods. Street foods give ultimate comfort and are quick hunger helpers. There are tons of delicious street foods from every nook and corner of the world characteristic to every region in this world. As soon as the theme was suggested by Preethi, I decided to share this recipe which tasted very much similar to our traditional aloo patties. Seema of Mildly Indian is my partner and she suggested cumin and parsley as the secret ingredients, and I made this Maakouda. I in turn suggested her turmeric and cumin as the secret ingredients and she made a comforting Indore style poha, a popular Indian street food. Street foods are comfort foods with lip smacking flavors and here are some street foods from India and around.

Alepak Poha/Bhelgavi Bhel

Hungarian Langos

Kumpir

Ram Ladoo

Egyptiam Kushari

Panzerotti

Potatoes are always delicious and make any meal comforting. Whether you make them mashed, or in curries, or fries, or any other deep-fried snacks, they are absolutely tasty and addictive. Here are some delicious potato recipes from the blog.

Paneer Tikka Poutine

Curried Baby Hasselback Potatoes

Potato Podimas

Baked Potato Ragada Chaat

Roasted Cranberry Potatoes

Potato Pizza

I am also linking this to Sundays on Silverado, What's For Dinner, Full Plate Thursday, Wonderful Wednesday, and Thursday Favorite Things.

Ingredients

Makes 14

For the patties

Potatoes - 500g

Garlic - 1.5 tsp, finely chopped

Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Cayenne - 1/2 tsp

Parsley - 1 tbsp, dried

Cilantro - 2 tbsp

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Black pepper - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 4 cups, for deep frying

For the Batter

Flour - 1 cup

Yeast - 1 tsp

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Cayenne - 1/2 tsp

Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Water - 1 and 1/4 cup

Method

Boil the potatoes, cool, and peel them.

Mash the potatoes and add the salt, pepper, cayenne, cumin powder, parsley, cilantro, garlic, and turmeric, and mix thoroughly.

Divide the dough into 14 equal portions, roll into a ball and flatten them slightly.

To a bowl, add the flour, salt, turmeric, garlic powder, and cayenne. Mix and set aside.

To a quarter cup warm water, add a pinch of sugar and the yeast. Set aside for the mixture to turn bubbly.

Add the activated yeast and the remaining water to the flour mixture. Whisk and make a lump free batter.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Drench the patties in batter.

Drop the battered patties into hot oil and deep fry the patties until golden brown on both the sides. Repeat with the remaining patties.

Serve with tomato harissa sauce.