Shortcut Khliî Substitute

My understanding is that real khliî involves marinating and then sun-drying meat. This meat is then cooked in a mixture of fat and oil at which point it is dried again. Prepared this way, khli&icric; can be kept for up to two years without refrigeration.

Wolfert offers a faster alternative to making authentic khliî. It is still a somewhat lengthy process, but skips the drying steps which expedites things a great deal. Sadly, this means that it doesn't have the same impressive keeping qualities of genuine khli&icric;, but it's still very tasty and will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

Shortcut Khli&icric; Substitute

Slightly adapted from the Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert

Ingredients

• 1.13kg bone-in lamb shoulder or 680g flank steak + 450g short ribs
• 1 head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1/2 Tbsp. cumin seeds
• 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne
• 2 Tbsp. vinegar
• 3/4 c. olive oil, divided
• 200g chopped suet
• 2 c. hot water, divided

Finishing Spices

• 1/2 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. la kama spice mixture
• 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne
• salt & pepper

Directions

1. Rinse off the meat and place it into a enameled cast iron Dutch oven or casserole.
2. Combine garli, salt, coriander, cumin, and cayenne in a blender and blend to a paste.
3. Add the vinegar and 1/3 c. of the olive oil and blend until smooth and well-combined.
4. Pour garlic mixture over the meat and let stand for 1-2 hours.
5. Add the suet and 1 c. of the hot water to the unwashed blender and blend until smooth.
6. Pour suet mixture into a pot.
7. Add remaining hot water and 1/4 c. of the olive oil to the pot with the suet mixture and set it aside.
8. Warm the meat (with its marinade) over low heat.
9. Meanwhile, bring the suet mixture to a boil.
10. Pour the boiling suet mixture over the meat.
11. If the meat is not entirely covered, add enough additional hot water to do so.
12. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, reduce heat to low, and cook for ~3 hours.
13. Lift out the meat and set the casserole aside.
14. Remove and discard any bones and gristle from the meat.
15. Slice the meat¹ and toss it with the finishing spices.
16. Pack the sliced -- or in my case, shredded -- meat into a clean, dry 750mL jar.
17. Boil down the cooking liquid until almost all the water has evaporated.
18. Strain the cooking liquid into a deep bowl and allow to sit, undisturbed, until the fat rises to the top.
19. Spoon the fat over the meat.
20. Use a thin skewer to allow the fat to penetrate to the bottom of the jar.
21. Top off the jar with a layer of fresh olive oil.
22. Cool completely, then cover and transfer to the fridge to store.
23. To use, remove from fridge and allow to warm up slightly. (It will be very hard and difficult to extract otherwise.) Carefully remove the desired portion with clean tongs or chopsticks and then top off with more olive oil to keep the meat completely covered.
24. Meat should keep for 3-4 weeks in the fridge.

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¹ I wasn't able to slice my meat. It was so tender that any attempt to slice it or manipulate it in any way resulted in it shredding itself. This seems to be fine for most applications, but it means that I ended up with a jar of shredded beef rather than beef slices. ^Back