INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Serves: 8-12 Cooking time: 35 minutes  Soak chick peas in the cold
water for 24 hours, in a cool place if  weather is warm.  Remove the
skins by taking a handful at a time and  rubbing with the palms of both
hands so that the chick peas actually  rub against one another.  Drop
back into bowl and take up another  lot. Skim off the floating skins as
they accumulate. (Dang, why not  just leave the skins ON, this sounds
like too much trouble! -KM)  Drain well.  Pass the skinned chick peas
through food grinder twice, using fine  screen. Alternatively, place in
food processor container in 2 lots  and process to a paste (NOW you're
talking! -KM)  Peel skin from boiled potatoes and mash finely with a
fork. Combine  with ground chick peas, add salt and a good grinding of
white pepper.  Blend thoroughly and keep aside.  Put sliced onions in a
pan with the water, cover and steam over  medium heat for 10 minutes,
then remove cover and leave until  moisture evaporates. Turn into a
bowl and cool.  Add allspice, cumin, pine nuts, and currants to the
onion. Blend  well, then mix in tahina, and salt and pepper to taste.
Take 4 pieces of unbleached calico or similar cloth, each about 50 cm
(20 inches) square and scald in boiling water. Cool a little, then
wring out well.  Open out a square of cloth on work surface and put a
quarter of the  chick pea paste in the centre.  Spread evenly with a
spatula to a 20  cm (8 inch) square and place a quarter of the filling
in the centre,  spreading it a little.  Bring each corner of the paste
over the filling by lifting up corners  of cloth.  Paste should enclose
filling in envelope fashion. Smooth  joins to seal well.  Make a single
tie with each pair of diagonally opposite corners of  cloth, then tie a
second time. Complete another 3 topigs in the same  way.  Half fill a
large pot with water, bring to the boil and add about 1  tablespoon
salt. When briskly boiling, lower prepared topigs into pot  and return
to the boil. Cover and boil steadily for 12-15 minutes or  until topigs
float and feel firm to the touch.  Lift out immediately and place on a
tray, draining off water in tray.  Untie and invert topigs onto
platter.  Leave until cool.  When ready to serve, pour a little olive
oil over each topig and dust  lightly with cinnamon or paprika. Garnish
platter with lemon wedges  and parsley.  To serve, cut each topig in
half, then slice in thick  pieces. Olive oil and lemon juice are added
to individual taste.  NOTE: Ready-skinned chick peas are available at
some Armenian and  Greek food stores.  These look like split peas, but
are larger and  nut coloured.  Source: The Complete Middle East
Cookbook, by Tess Mallos Typos and  smart remarks by: Karen Mintzias
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
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Calories: 163
Calories From Fat: 73
Total Fat: 8.5g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 648mg
Potassium: 270.3mg
Carbohydrates: 19.3g
Fiber: 4.3g
Sugar: 6.8g
Protein: 4.7g