Morocco | Recipe

Maakouda

Name: Maakouda
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Morocco, North Africa
Ingredients: 1 kg potatoes, peeled and quartered; 2 whole eggs; ½ cup parsley and cilantro, chopped; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tsp cumin; ½ tsp turmeric; ½ cup flour or rice flour; 2 cups oil

Moroccan potato cakes seasoned with herbs, cumin, turmeric, garlic, and egg, then fried until crisp.

Country

Morocco

Region

North Africa

Time

60 min

Serves

Level

easy

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Recipe overview

What to know before you cook

Maakouda is the potato cake that appears in Moroccan homes, markets, and sandwich stalls. Mashed potato is seasoned with herbs and spices, shaped, and fried until the outside turns crisp.

What the dish tastes like

Moroccan potato cakes seasoned with herbs, cumin, turmeric, garlic, and egg, then fried until crisp.

When to cook it

Best for Best for street-food sandwiches, iftar spreads, and snack plates., with a easy cooking level and about 60 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Harissa, olives, khobz, salad, or grilled meats.

Regional lane

Soups, salads, and dips. Harira, fava bean soup, cooked salads, and vegetable sides for bread-led meals.

Chef watch-outs

Adding too much liquid after the rice goes in.
Stirring too often once the grains should be steaming.
Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.

How you know it is ready

The grains should be tender but still distinct, with steam carrying the seasoning upward.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.

Pantry lane

preserved lemon, green olives, saffron, ras el hanout, semolina

Chef board

Build the table around Maakouda

Harissa, olives, khobz, salad, or grilled meats.

Best route from here

Soups, salads, and dips

Collections to keep cooking

Moroccan Salads, Soups, and Breads

Servings 6

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

How to cook it

Step-by-step method

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Morocco

4 steps 60 min total easy

Cook potatoes

Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, then drain very well.

boil 20:00

Season and mash

Mash potatoes with eggs, herbs, garlic, cumin, turmeric, salt, and pepper.

mash 08:00

Shape cakes

Shape into small patties and dust lightly with flour if needed.

shape 12:00

Fry crisp

Fry in hot oil until both sides are golden and crisp.

fry 10:00

Some cooks dredge in flour, others keep it gluten-free. Garlic, turmeric, cumin, parsley, cilantro, and chili vary by home.

Maakouda

What to know before you cook

Build the table around Maakouda

Step-by-step method

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