Home > Worldwide Recipes > Africa > Breads, Grains and Pulses > Couscous
Couscous
Ingredients
⅔ cup dried chickpeas
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 lb lean, boneless lamb shoulder
½ cup white onions, chopped
5 cups water, boiling
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup ripe tomatoes
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons dried mint, crushed
1 teaspoon (scant) salt or to taste
¼ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
4 medium-sized carrots
3 small turnips
2 cups couscous
3 small zucchini
2 Italian sweet peppers
Details
Serves: 7
Method
Soak the chickpeas overnight in four times their volume of water in a noncorrisble bowl. Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed 5 to 7 quart pot.
Cut the lamb into 1-inch cubes. Brown them (in batches, if necessary) on all sides over moderate heat. Transfer the meat to a warm platter. Reduce the temperature to low and saute the onions for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the lamb, boiling water, lemon juice, tomatoes, cinnamon, nutmeg, bay leaf, mint, salt, and pepper. Stir, cover and simmer the mixture for 20 minutes.
Drain the chickpeas and stir them into the lamb mixture. Simmer the ingredients, covered, for 45 minutes.
Peel the carrots and turnips. Cut the carrots into ¾ inch long segments and the turnips into ¾ inch cubes, stir these ingredients into the pot containing the lamb. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
Put the couscous pellets in a 2 to 3 quart pan. Pour cold tap water into the pan until it reaches a depth of 1 inch above the pellets. Soak the pellets for 10 minutes.
Pour the couscous into a sieve, discarding the water. Return the couscous to its soaking pan. Slowly strain two cups of the broth from the large pot into the couscous. Bring this mixture to a simmer. Cover, and cook for 5 minutes over low heat.
Slice the zucchini into 3 inch cubes and the peppers into ¼ inch-thick rings, stir in both ingredients and simmer the mixture, covered, for 10 minutes. It should be time to turn off the heat under the simmering couscous pellets as soon as the zucchini-and-pepper mixture starts simmering. Fluff the pellets, cover the pan, and let it stand for 8 minutes. Then pour off any remaining liquid.
Mound the couscous pellets in the center of a warm, large serving platter. Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat and vegetables from the pot and neatly arrange them around the mound.
Related food category:
