Making Sheriya bi looz wa sbeeb

One of the very delicious treats you can eat in Morocco is called Sheriya bi looz wa sbeeb (or, Vermicelli with Almonds and Raisins). When we got home from the beach at Mirleft, this is what we made for dinner. Since the vermicelli is steamed rather than boiled, the recipe is a quite a process. I decided to document it here.

Utensils:

• Couscous steamer (see pics below) or a large double-pot steamer
• Wooden spatula or wooden fork
• Large serving platter
• Medium sauce pan for boiling water
• Plate
• Medium fry pan
• Platter with paper towels for cooling fried almonds
• Bowl for soaking raisins
• Spoons for eating

Ingredients:

• 500g vermicelli noodles
• 1 stick of butter
• Vegetable oil (1/4 cup + enough for frying almonds)
• Water
• 1/2 cup cold mild (preferable whole milk)
• 2 cups of raisins, golden or dark, cleaned and soaked in cold water 'til soft
• 2 cups of raw almonds
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Preparation of the Almonds
You begin by boiling about 6 cups of water in a saucepan. Remove pot of boiling water from the stove and pour whole almonds into the hot water. Allow the almonds to soak for 10-15 minutes. 

Once the almonds have soaked, remove the skins from the almonds. (This is called "blanching" the almonds. You can buy almonds without the skins and save this step, but I like the full "from scratch" approach.) If you rub an almond that has been soaking in hot water, the skin should come off. Discard the skins, keep the almonds:

Now it is time to sauté the almonds in vegetable oil. I make sure I have enough oil in the frying pan to cover the almonds. Heat the oil over a medium high heat, then add the almonds. I watch over the frying almonds without looking away because they need to be constantly turned and they can burn easily. You want to cook the almonds until they are tan-colored but not brown. When the almonds are done, set them onto a plate with a paper towel to remove the excess oil. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Once the almonds have cooled, grind up the sautéed almonds either in a blender or a food processor. As they are blending, add about 2 tablespoons of sugar to the almonds. Be careful not to blend them into an almond butter.

Once the almonds have been ground into a somewhat fine-grained mixture, set them aside for later use.

Preparation of the Noodles

You must first prepare the vermicelli for steaming. Pour the package of dry vermicelli noodles into a large serving platter. Drizzle the 1/4 cup of vegetable oil onto the noodles.  Using our hands, mix the noodles so all the noodles become well coated with vegetable oil. You can add more oil if needed. You want all the noodles coated, but not sitting in a puddle of oil. Set aside platter of noodles.

Fill the bottom half of the couscous steamer with water (leave about 6 inches between the water and the steamer). Set the pot on the stove and boil this water.

Fill a second saucepan with about 4 cups of water and set it to boiling. You will use this water later with the noodles.

Once the water in the couscous steamer pot is boiling, move the oil-soaked vermicelli noodles from the platter to the top half of the couscous steamer. You should work the vermicelli with your fingers as you sprinkle it into the top half of the couscous steamer so it is loose:

Place the top half of the couscous steamer over the boiling water in the bottom half of the couscous steamer. Make sure the top half fits well into the bottom half so the steam will have to come up through the noodles. Allow the noodles to cook in the steam until you can see the steam coming through all areas of the noodles at a rapid pace (no gaps in steaming areas). This should take about 10 minutes. [Note: you will wind up steaming these noodles 4 different times.]

While the noodles are steaming, clean the raisins making sure to remove any stems or "bad" raisins. Set the raisins in enough water at room temperature for them to soak. Set aside until later.

About 5 minutes into the first steaming of the noodles, pour the 4 cups of boiling water onto the noodles in an even stream, moving the put around as you pour it to evenly distribute the water. Most of the water will pass through the noodles, but our goal in steaming the noodles is to get them to absorb as much water as possible, so this jump-starts the process. This is the only time you will pour water over the noodles in this cooking process, so use up all four cups.

Let the noodles continue steaming for about 5 more minutes. Once you can see the steam coming through all areas of the noodles at a rapid pace (no gaps in steaming areas), dump the noodles onto a large platter. You will now use the wooden spatula or wooden fork to fluff up the noodles, separating them from the clumps that have formed as much as possible. It first the noodles will be too hot to work with your hands. Drizzle about a cup of room-temperature water onto the noodles and keep mixing, tossing, and blending the noodles with a wooden spatula or wooden fork. Eventually, they should cool off enough for you to handle them with your bare hands. You need to really work the noodles, mixing them, separating them, blending them:

If the noodles are really sticking together and you cannot break up the clumps, you can add more oil by putting it on your hands and then rubbing the noodles, but don't overdo it with the oil.

Now it's time for the second steaming of the noodles. Sprinkle the noodles by hand back into the top half of the couscous steamer so they are evenly distributed. Set them back on top of the bottom half of the couscous steamer (which should still have boiling water in it). Allow the noodles to cook in the steam until you can see the steam coming through all areas of the noodles at a rapid pace (no gaps in steaming areas). This should take about 10 minutes.

Once the noodles have made it through the second cycle of steaming, dump them back into the platter and work to loosen the noodles again using a wooden spatula or wooden fork. Do not add any more oil at this point, but do sprinkle the noodles with about 1/2 cup of water at room temperature as you work to fluff and separate the noodles.

Now it's time for the third steaming of the noodles, so repeat the process used for the second steaming, although this third steaming should not take as long -- maybe just  5 minutes.

When you pour the noodles onto the platter after their third steaming, you will work through all the noodles again, but sprinkle the noodles with the 1/2 cup of cold milk instead of water. Allow the milk to pour over your hands and then onto the noodles. This helps it to spread around more evenly. Work the noodles thoroughly and allow them to soak up the milk before steaming them for the fourth and final go-around:

Before the final steaming of the noodles, drain the raisins and spread them into the bottom of the steamer (top half of the couscous steamer):

Then, spread the noodles over the raisins and steam the raisins and noodles for about 5-7 minutes, until the steam is passing completely through all areas. Dump the steamed noodles and raisins onto the serving platter,  sprinkle the 3/4 cup of powdered sugar over the noodles, and begin working the entirety into a homogeneous mixture:

Once the mixture is well-blended, smooth the noodles and raisins into a rounded mound, slightly flattened at the top:

Now, take the ground almonds and put them neatly on top of the mound of noodles:

Now it is time to decorate the mound with cinnamon. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of cinnamon into the very top of the mound an then lightly sprinkle cinnamon in lines around the sides of the mound:

The dish is now ready to be served. Moroccans eat communally out of one platter. I find this makes the food taste so much better! So, one soup spoon per person (or forks if you don't have enough spoons), please, and DIG IN!

Moroccans eat only in the area right in front of them. It's not a free-for-all! With this dish, they will typically scoop some almonds from the top, along with a bit of cinnamon, blend it with the noodles and raisins right in front of them, and then eat the mixture. This is best served with cold milk.