Rechta
The signature dish of Algiers cuisine, its name from the Persian 'rishta,' meaning thread, a real trace of old Persian-Ottoman influence on Maghrebi cooking. It's genuinely tied to religious and festive occasions, Mawlid al-Nabi, Eid, and weddings, rather than everyday cooking. Real rechta uses hand-rolled, hand-cut fresh semolina noodles, traditionally steamed in the top chamber of a couscoussier over the simmering sauce below, the same equipment used for couscous. The defining Algiers-style marker is a pale, delicately spiced white sauce built on chicken, chickpeas, and turnip with white pepper and cinnamon rather than tomato, genuinely distinct from Constantine's own tomato-based red-sauce version of the same dish.
⚠ Contains: Gluten, Dairy. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 3 cups semolina, plus more for dusting
- Water, as needed
- 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
- 1 cup chickpeas, cooked
- 2 turnips, chunked
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp butter or oil
Steps
- Work the semolina with water into a firm dough, then roll and hand-cut into thin noodle strands. Dry briefly.
- Steam the noodles in the top of a couscoussier or a steamer basket.
- Meanwhile, cook the chicken with onion, turnip, white pepper, and cinnamon in water until tender.
- Add the chickpeas to the sauce and simmer briefly.
- Toss the steamed noodles with butter, and serve topped with the chicken, turnip, and chickpea sauce.