Vegetable couscous
Morocco’s Friday dish: wheat semolina steamed over a broth of meat and seven vegetables, served on a large platter for sharing.
Ingredients
- 500 g medium-grain couscous
- 800 g lamb or beef, in pieces
- 2 onions and 2 tomatoes
- 7 vegetables: carrot, courgette, turnip, squash, cabbage, aubergine and pepper
- 200 g cooked chickpeas
- 1 teaspoon each of ginger, turmeric and pepper and a little saffron
- 1 bunch of coriander and parsley
- Oil, butter and salt
How to make it at home
- In the bottom of the couscoussier (or a pot), fry the meat with the onion, tomato, spices and herbs, cover with water and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, moisten the couscous with a little salted water and oil, rubbing it between your hands to separate the grains.
- Put it in the top part (or in a sieve over the pot) and steam it for 20 minutes. Take it out, moisten it again and separate the grains, and repeat twice.
- Add the vegetables to the broth in order of hardness (the hardest first) and the chickpeas at the end.
- Mix the couscous with butter, pile it into a mound on the platter and arrange the meat and vegetables on top, with the broth on the side.
The trick: Three rounds of steaming: that way every grain is separate and fluffy.