You’ve probably read and perhaps tried many recipes of stuffed vegetables in so many variations, so have I. I even have a few recipes on the blog like my stuffed bell peppers or stuffed vine leaves. Recently I came across Mafrum when walking in the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv and I just fell in love, I totally encourage you to try it, it’s a game changer!
What is Mafrum?
Mafrum is a Libyan dish made out of ground beef sandwiched in assorted vegetables, the most known ones being potatoes, eggplant and cauliflower, which are then dipped in flour and egg, fried in oil and then cooked in a red sauce. Traditionally served with couscous.
How to Make it?
It’s not a weekday dinner, I’ll admit that. There are some steps to be taken to get this dish done, and it takes some time, but it’s not difficult and it’s totally worth it, you have my word.
The first step, is to choose the vegetables you would like to make. I used potatoes, eggplants and cauliflower, and you can chose all or just one, whatever you like. I also heard of options for Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin, artichoke hearts and zucchini. Do you have any other ideas? Please let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear!
Anyway, get your vegetables washed and clean. If you’re using potatoes, peel them and slice into 2-3 cm (1 inch) thick. In each slice, create a cut in the middle like you’d open a baguette, but cut only 3/4 through. Like this:
Then place them in a bowl with salted water for 30 minutes. This will allow them to soften up and become more flexible, making your life a lot easier when filling.
Slice your eggplant the same way, and salt it slightly on both sides so the moisture will come out, place it on a paper towel for 30 minutes
Break small florets from your cauliflower and in the middle of the chunky part, create a small cut
While you are waiting for your veggies to soften a bit, make your filling. You can use any meatball mix you like, really. I am using one that is not 100% traditional, but I think is wonderful and I hope you’ll try it.
It consists of ground lamb, ground beef, eggs, coriander, parsley, mint, onion, breadcrumbs, garlic, cumin and baharat spice mix (which you can easily get at any supermarket nowadays). Mix all those in with your hands for a good 3-4 minutes until it’s sticky and combined well. Now you can start stuffing the vegetables.
Once your vegetables are ready, drain the water out of the potatoes and let them dry for a few minutes. Wipe the moisture and salt from the eggplants.
Make a medium ball from the meat mixture and stuff it inside each piece of vegetable, be gentle, and once it’s in there, press the sides of the vegetables to sandwich it up tightly but without pressing the mixture out. Use your intuition here, it’s easier than it sounds!
Take a large oven proof skillet and heat 4cm (1.5 inch) of oil in it on medium heat. Meanwhile, prepare a plate with flour and some salt and another bowl with a few eggs and a couple tablespoons of tomato puree, mix it well.
When the oil reaches the desired temperature, dip each piece of vegetable in the flour, make sure everything is covered and tap it lightly to remove access flour.
Then dip the piece in the egg mixture on all sides, and straight into the skillet
Fry the pieces slowly, a few minutes on each side. Let them caramelize a bit on the edges, if the heat is too high turn it down. Flip them over to the other side and let them get this nice golden color
Remove them gently using a slotted spoon or two forks, and place them on a wire rack with paper towels underneath to catch the excess oil. This way they won’t become soggy and will keep their lovely exterior to soak up the sauce that’s coming up next.
Now that you have all your veggies ready, let’s kick off this simple and delicious sauce. Chop 3 small onions and sauté them in the same skillet you used to fry your veggies, add some olive oil if you’re missing some oil in there.
After the onions are nice and transparent, add a few tablespoons of tomato puree, Baharat spice mix, smoked paprika spice (or regular), a bit of cumin, salt and pepper.
Let those spices and tomatoes release their true diva’s in the oil for a minute or two and become very fragrant, then add some water and stir well. Add your vegetables and arrange them nice and tightly together, the water should reach 3/4 of the way, letting the vegetables pop out just a bit
Bring to a gentle simmer and then reduce the heat to your lowest setting. You can let it cook like this for a couple hours, or you can place it in the oven on low heat for a couple hours ( I prefer the oven method for an even heat distribution also coming from the top)
That’s it! You’ve made Mafrum, congratulations. Get some couscous ready and invite your favorite friends over, you can be very proud because they are going to be talking about your amazing dish for a long time!
Did you end up making this delicious dish? I sure hope so. I’m very curious what you think. If you made this, please take a picture and tag me on Instagram @kerenruben or Facebook Keren’s Kitchen and let me know how you liked it!
Mafrum Full Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Medium Potatoes, peeled
- 1 Eggplant
- 4-5 Cauliflower Florets
- For the stuffing Mixture
- 300g minced beef
- 150g minced lamb
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped or grated
- 100g breadcrumbs
- 1 cup mix of chopped coriander, parsley, mint
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1 Tbsp Baharat spice mix
- 1 Tbsp Ground cumin
- 1 Egg, beaten
- 1/2 Tsp salt
- 1/2 Tsp pepper
- To coat
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- vegetable oil for frying
- For the sauce
- 3 Onions, chopped
- 4 big garlic cloves, chopped
- 4 Tbsp tomato puree
- 1 Tbsp Baharat spice mix
- 2 Tbsp smoked paprika spice
- 1/2 Tbsp Ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp spicy ground chilli (optional)
- Pinch of sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2-3 cups of water
Instructions
- Slice your potatoes and eggplant into 2-3 cm (1 inch) thick slices. In each slice, create a cut in the middle like you’d open a baguette, but cut only 3/4 through so the piece remains intact.
- Place the potatoes in cold water until covered and mix in 1 Tbsp of salt, rest for 30 minutes
- Sprinkle the eggplant with some salt and let rest on a paper towel for 30 minutes.
- Break palm size florets off your cauliflower, set aside.
- Mix together ground lamb, ground beef, eggs, coriander, parsley, mint, onion, breadcrumbs, garlic, cumin, baharat spice mix, salt and pepper
- Once your vegetables are ready, drain the water out of the potatoes and let them dry for a few minutes. Wipe the moisture and salt from the eggplants.
- Mix all those in with your hand for a good 3-4 minutes until it’s sticky and mixed well.
- Make a medium ball from the meat mixture and stuff it inside each piece of vegetable, be gentle, and once it’s in there, press the sides of the vegetables to sandwich it up tightly but without pressing the mixture out.
- Take a large oven proof skillet that has a lid and heat about 4cm (1.5 inch) oil in it on medium heat.
- Prepare a plate with the flour and salt and another bowl with the eggs and a tomato puree, whisk well to combine.
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
- When the oil is hot, dip each piece of vegetable in the flour, make sure everything is covered and tap it lightly to remove access flour. Then dip the piece in the egg mixture on all sides, and straight into the oil.
- Fry the pieces slowly, a few minutes on each side. Let them caramelize and bit, if the heat is too high turn it down. Flip them over to the other side and let them get this nice golden color.
- Remove them gently using a slotted spoon or two forks, and place them on a wire rack with paper towels underneath to catch the excess oil
- Chop 3 small onions and sauté them in the same skillet you used to fry your veggies, add olive oil if needed.
- After the onions are nice and transparent, add the garlic, tomato puree, Baharat spice mix, smoked paprika spice (or regular), a bit of cumin, pinch of sugar, salt and pepper and if you’d like it with a bit of a spicy kick, add chili spice in there too. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
- Add 2 cups of water and stir it well together. Arrange the vegetables in tightly together, the water should almost reach the top of the vegetables, about 3/4 through. Add the rest of the water if needed.
- Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and place in the oven for 1.5-2 hours, until the potatoes are soft and most of the fluids are absorbed. You can also leave it covered on the stove on very low heat for 2 hours. Check occasionally and add some water if needed.
- Serve warm with couscous and enjoy!
Hi! Thank you so much for this tutorial! I appreciate the care and time you took to put this together. You’ve made an intimidating recipe something I know I can be successful with. Your photos are certainly worth at least 1000 words. I wish I’d found this recipe when you posted it – this had to be a perfect COVID hot meal! Thank you again!
Thanks so much for your comment, Amy! This is such a comforting dish I hope you try it out. Have a lovely day!
My family favorite. Exact steps but we use cinnamon as the main spice