Vegan Chraime Casserole
Come-on, say it with me ch-ra-ime.
Chraime is a traditional north-African casserole dish, originally made with fish based patties cooked in spicy tomato – hot pepper sauce. I used tofu, herbs, seaweed, spices, etc. to make the chraime patties (meat-balls), and they were seriously unbelievably yummy!
Such a spicy and satisfying dish. It is meaty and spicy. I know you all would LOVE it. Eaten w/ freshly baked challah. It was served at a massive vegan family dinner and was a huge hit.
The recipe was inspired and modified from this beautiful Israeli vegan blog here
Vegan Chraime Casserole
Ingredients
Patties:
300g (10.5 oz.) tofu, Mashed and blended in food-processor until smooth (add water if necessary)
1 handful Parsley
1 handful Coriander
*0.5 tbsp. dried Wakama seaweed, soaked in 1 tbsp. of hot water (OPTIONAL)
3 tbsp. breadcrumbs
1 small spring onion
1 clove of garlic
3-5 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. sweet paprika
Salt
Hot sauce:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
10 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper, sliced to little pieces
1 carrot, peeled then sliced to little pieces
1 handful parsley, chopped
1 handful coriander, chopped* (For those of you who can’t stand the thought of coriander, simply use more parsley!)
6 tomatoes, cut into fours
2 tbsp. sweet paprika
1/2 tsp. (or to taste) cayenne pepper flakes or hot paprika
1 tsp. sugar
Salt
1 liter water
Serve with Some fresh, chopped coriander or parsley
Method
Preheat oven to 200c (390f)
Let’s ball!
Prepare a baking pan and baking paper.
1. Mix all the chraime balls ingredients together. Make small round partly-flat patties-balls, and place the balls in the baking pan.
2. Drizzle with a bit olive oil. Bake until golden – for 15 minutes.
Sauce making
1. In a large sauce pan or pot, heat olive oil and stir-fry all the veggies (except the tomatoes) for 5 minutes.
2. Add the spices and tomatoes into the sauce and stir-fry for 5 more minutes.
3. Add 1 liter of water (I used boiling but it’s not necessary) and bring to a simmer. Then reduce heat and cook another 20 minutes.
4. Add the baked chraime balls, and continue cooking for about 15 minutes.
Serve with chopped parsley and coriander. Side of fresh Challa or bread.
Enjoy 🙂
Just made this chraime meatballs and it is so tasty. Even after knowing I cooked it, I couldn’t believe it was vegan. Serious yum yum!