Morocco | Main dish

Seffa Medfouna

Moroccan sweet-savory vermicelli or couscous mound hiding spiced chicken and finished with almonds, cinnamon, and powdered sugar.

Country
Morocco
Region
North Africa
Time
130 min
Serves
6
Level
hard
Start cooking Explore Morocco recipes
01 / Get ready

Everything you need

Tap each ingredient as you gather it. Illustrations are visual guides; follow the ingredient names and quantities.

Servings 6

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

Jump to methodMy cookbook

02 / Let’s cook

One step at a time

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

Back to Morocco
4 steps 40 min prep 90 min cook (check method) 130 min total hard
1
Cook chicken
Cook chicken with onions, spices, salt, pepper, and water until tender. Shred and reduce the sauce.
chicken 50:00
2
Steam vermicelli
Steam vermicelli in stages, fluffing with butter and a little water until tender.
vermicelli 40:00
3
Build mound
Layer vermicelli on a platter, hide chicken in the center, and cover with more vermicelli.
assemble 08:00
4
Decorate
Top with almonds, cinnamon, and powdered sugar just before serving.
finish 03:00

Some versions use couscous, others use broken vermicelli. The filling may be chicken, lamb, or no meat.

Cooking notes, photos & serving ideas
Recipe context

More about this dish

Serving ideas, regional context, and cooking cues for when you want more detail.

When to cook it

Best for special lunches, guests, and celebration tables.. Plan on a hard cook. Allow about 130 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Mint tea, simple salads, or a light soup.

Regional lane

Tagines and special mains. Slow-cooked, spiced, sweet-savory, and celebratory dishes that anchor the table.

Chef watch-outs
  • Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.
  • Adding all seasoning early and forgetting to adjust at the end.
  • Cooking on heat that is too high once the dish should be steaming or simmering.
How you know it is ready
  • The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
  • Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.
  • The final texture should match the dish style before you plate it.
Pantry lane

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

Recipe illustrations

See the dish before you cook

Take a closer look at the dish and its serving ideas.

A mound of fine vermicelli with almonds and a cinnamon topping; recipe illustration
Seffa Medfouna finished dish · Recipe illustration
Chef board

Build the table around Seffa Medfouna

Mint tea, simple salads, or a light soup.

Best route from here

Tagines and special mains

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