Recipe Posted on 2nd September, 2008
Recipe Source: Imane came over to our house in Paris to cook up her mum's couscous one day in 2007. It was a fabulous day learning to make some of her mum's best dishes. There were many phone calls to Morocco as the day went on to check on the finer details - after all, we had no written recipe to work from. I measured everything as we went along and wrote detailed notes. This is the result!
You will need a large double pot called a couscousier. This is a large pot, with a deep steamer pot which goes on top. The lamb stew cooks in the bottom pot, while the couscous steams in the upper pot. These pots are not readily available in Australia, so I bought one in France before we moved back to Oz!
The vegetables in this recipe are cut into large pieces, about the size that you would use for roast vegetables.
This recipe will serve about 6-8 people.
Ingredients
1.5kg lamb pieces with bone. I like to use lean lamb neck cut into 1 inch rounds, although any other stewing cut with bone will be ok.
2 large onions
1 tablespoon salt
1 large pinch safron threads
1 teaspoon pepper
½ cup olive oil
½ cup chick peas, soaked overnight (or as long as you can)
500g sweet potato, cut into large pieces
500g pumpkin, cut into large pieces
300g turnips, cut into large pieces
300g cabbage, cut into large wedges with a little core still attached so as to hold the leaves together
300g carrots, cut into large pieces
300g zucchini, cut into large pieces
1 small bunch coriander, tied into a bunch with string
300g tomatoes, cut into large pieces
1 teaspoon turmeric
100g butter
½ cup dried raisins
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1kg medium couscous
Method
Place 1 litre of water in the bottom of a large couscousier pot. Add chopped onion, salt, safron, pepper, chickpeas, turmeric, meat and olive oil. Bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, place the couscous in a large bowl. Slowly add 1 cup of salted water to the couscous while mixing with a fork.
When the meat comes to the boil, turn it down to a simmer. Place the couscous in the upper steamer pot over the top of the simmering meat. Simmer for 45 minutes with the lid off.
Add turnips, ginger, carrots and cabbage to the meat stew. Fluff up the couscous with a fork and mix through 1 cup of hot water. Place the couscous back over the meat stew and cook for another 15 minutes uncovered.
Add remaining vegetables, coriander and raisins to the meat stew. Add enough water to just cover the vegetables, about 1 litre. Simmer for another 15 minutes.
Taste the stew and add salt and pepper if necessary.
To serve, pile the couscous into a deep platter. Make a hole in the centre. Arrange teh meat and cabbage in the hole. Use sweet potato, carrots, zucchini and turnips to decorate the couscous mound. Serve the remaining vegetables and liquid in a separate bowl.
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