Karane — Oujda, Morocco

Karane is a baked chickpea flour flatbread, close in makeup to kalinté but built to a thicker, more substantial batter. It is poured into a wide pan and baked until the top browns and the edges turn crisp, producing a snack that sits somewhere between a flan and a flatbread. It is reported from Oujda, a city near Morocco's border with Algeria, where it has become a neighborhood street specialty in its own right rather than a variant of a dish from elsewhere. Vendors bake it in wide, round copper trays in wood-fired ovens and sell it warm, by the portion, on paper, dusted with cumin, salt and chili. To prepare it, chickpea flour is whisked with water, eggs, oil, salt and a little baking powder, then left to rest briefly before being poured into a well-oiled round pan to a greater depth than kalinté usually takes. It bakes at a high temperature until the surface is deeply browned and the edges are crisp, then it is cut into portions and served hot. The recipe follows the same idea as kalinté from the north, but with a difference in texture: Oujda's version is generally thicker and baked longer, giving it firmer edges and a more substantial bite. It is eaten as a mid-morning or afternoon snack, usually with a glass of tea.