Friday, September 4, 2009

Crispy duck boregi

Serves 8

The sights, sounds, smells and mayhem that Ramadan brings every evening at Iftar. It is a magical time of year, and the intensity of some of the food can be quite unique. There seem to be the full range of offerings, from a simple lentil soup to whet the appetite from a day of fasting - to full blown spicy stews like the meatball heavy dawood basha with gutsy seasoning and solid content. These spring roll like boregis fall in the middle, and in fact are probably better suited to snacking on late into the night after the main meal has had a chance to digest.

6 duck legs
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
100g dried chick peas, soaked overnight
1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 4
180ml extra virgin olive oil
75g currants
4 sheets of filo pastry

Pre-heat oven to 180c, trim duck legs slightly of excess fat, season well on both sides with salt and place in a roasting pan with, sugar and spices. Add enough water to come half way up the duck legs. Cover twice with foil and braise for 1 ½-2 hours until duck meat falls off the bone when grabbed with a fork or a pair of tongs. Strain liquid off the braising liquid and allow duck legs and liquid to cool.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, cover chickpeas with 1 litre of water and boil for about 20 minutes until really soft. Remove from the heat and season the water to taste with salt. Let stand for about 5 minutes to absorb the salt. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile in a separate saucepan, cover potato with water and simmer for about 20 minutes until tender. Drain immediately and push through a ricer. Place in a mixing bowl.

Puree chickpeas in a food processor with 100ml extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, until smooth and creamy. Stir into the riced potatoes and re-season with salt and pepper.

Remove the duck meat from the bone and shred. Stir into the potato mixture. Skim the braising liquid. Place currants in a small bowl and add 100ml of warm braising liquid to them. Let them plump and add the liquid and currants to the duck mixture. Check again for seasoning.

Cut each sheet of filo dough in half widthwise. Brush each half with some of the remaining olive oil. Place duck filling in a straight skinny line on the bottom of each filo and fold in ends. Roll up like a cigar and bake or deep fry.

Serve with a tahini sauce and some chopped fresh peeled and seeded tomatoes, seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil, at sunset of course...

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