How to Make Moroccan Sellou

Rabat – Sellou is an unbaked authentic Moroccan dish. Also known as zmita and seffouf, it is a combination of luxurious and flavorful ingredients including nuts, toasted sesame, sugar and roasted flour as the main ingredients. Like many traditional recipes, the ingredients vary from region to region.

While sellou is a traditional element of the Moroccan iftaar (meal to break the fast) during Ramadan, families serve it throughout the year at celebrations and ceremonies. Sellou is also a treat served at Moroccan birth celebrations. 

Made mostly from dry ingredients, sellou lasts for a long time if kept covered. We eat sellou with a spoon from a shared dish accompanied by hot tea or a cup of coffee. 

Today I will show you how to make a small batch of sellou to enjoy at home or share with friends and family. 

First, make sure you have:

1kg of white flour

500 grams of sesame seeds

500 grams of  almonds

500 grams of peanuts

2 tablespoons of anise seeds

2 tablespoons of fennel seeds

1 tablespoon cinnamon

200 grams of icing sugar 

125 grams of butter

1 liter of vegetable oil

½ cup of honey

½ teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of ground gum arabica(optional)

Now, it is time to get cooking:

Spread the flour over a large baking sheet and place it in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the flour is a light golden brown color. Keep checking and stirring to prevent the flour from burning.

When the flour is cool sift it to remove any balls and put it aside.

Next, toast the sesame seeds in the oven for 10 min or on the stove over medium heat.

Take a half cup of sesame and put it aside, then grind finely the rest in a blender.

Now, boil almonds for 2 minutes, drain and peel them.

Once peeled, dry fry the almonds in a pan over low heat until they are golden brown. 

Take a half cup of fried almonds and put it aside. Now finely grind the rest of almonds.

Roast the peanuts in the oven for 15 minutes until its color becomes light golden, then finely grind them.

Toast the anise and fennel seeds and grind them well, then sift get a smooth powder.

Melt the butter over low heat in a pot until the milk solids separate to the bottom of the pot.

Place the pot in the refrigerator for an hour or more.

The butter will be hard, and the milk solids can be poured off. 

Heat the oil and let it cool for a while.

In large bowl put the sifted brown flour, ground sesame, ground almonds, ground peanuts, anise and fennel seeds, cinnamon,gum arabica, salt and sifted icing sugar then mix well.

Add the melted butter and the heated oil slowly and mix using your hands or a spatula then add honey and mix again for a while.

Knead the sellou for a few minutes to ensure everything is mixed thoroughly.

 Finally, before transferring to a plastic container leave the sellou in the large bowl overnight.

Now serve the sellou with tea or coffee and try not to eat it all yourself!