Couscous

Grain steamed three times over the broth it will be eaten with, never boiled and never soaked in a kettle.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

For the grain

• 600 g coarse couscous
• cold water, for sprinkling
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 50 g butter, to finish

For the broth

• 1 kg lamb shoulder, in large pieces
• 2 onions, quartered
• 200 g chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 3 carrots, in thick batons
• 3 turnips, quartered
• 2 courgettes, in thick batons
• 1 small pumpkin wedge, in chunks
• 2 tomatoes, grated
• 1 bunch coriander and parsley, tied
• a pinch of saffron
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 litres water
• salt and pepper

Method

1. IT IS STEAMED THREE TIMES AND NEVER BOILED. Not soaked in a kettle of water, not simmered, not left in a bowl under a lid: steamed, raked apart, rested, steamed again, three times over about ninety minutes. Each steaming swells the grain a little more and each raking separates it again, and the result is light and loose where boiled couscous is a damp block. This is the entire difference between the dish and the packet instructions.
2. AND IT IS STEAMED OVER THE BROTH IT WILL BE EATEN WITH, uncovered, so it takes up the steam coming off the lamb and vegetables. That is most of its flavour.
3. THE GRAIN IS RAKED WITH OILED HANDS BETWEEN STEAMINGS and it must be cool enough to touch. Raked with a fork it compacts; raked with the fingers every lump is broken.
4. Broth: oil in the base of a couscoussier or large pot. Lamb browned with the onions, then the saffron, ginger, turmeric, tomatoes, herb bundle, chickpeas and water. Brought to a simmer.
5. FIRST STEAMING. Couscous in a wide bowl, sprinkled with about 250 ml cold water and a tablespoon of oil, and raked through with the hands until every grain is damp and separate. Into the steamer basket, loose, NOT pressed down.
6. Set over the simmering broth WITHOUT A LID and steamed 20 minutes from when steam first rises through the grain. Seal the join with a strip of damp cloth if it leaks.
7. Tipped back into the bowl, broken up at once with a wooden spoon, and left 5 minutes to cool.
8. SECOND: another 200 ml of water sprinkled over with the salt, raked through with oiled hands until no lumps remain. Back in the basket, 20 minutes.
9. Carrots and turnips into the broth at this point; the courgettes and pumpkin 15 minutes later, so nothing is mush.
10. THIRD: raked again with a little more water, steamed a final 20 minutes.
11. Tipped out, the butter forked through, and piled into a wide dish with a well in the middle.
12. Meat and vegetables arranged in the well, a few ladles of broth poured over, and the rest served separately for people to add.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Morocco · All recipes