Moroccan Cous Cous recipe

Moroccan Cous Cous recipe

Moroccan Couscous recipe: Cous Cous or Couscous in Spanish, also called sucsu in Moroccan Arabic is a traditional and very popular dish, most families tend to eat it every Friday, as it is the most special day of the week. It is very delicious and very tasty.

There are many types of couscous among them with meat and vegetables, with sweet and sour meat, with meat and sweetened onion, with chicken, with turkey, with turkey and cucumber.

A “couscous pot” is used to prepare couscous. This container is made up of three parts, the bottom one is a narrow and high pot (where the stew is cooked), the middle one is lower and wider than the previous one with perforations in the bottom (where the couscous is steamed), the top one is the lid which also has some small perforations.

I am going to leave you the recipe of the most known and traditional couscous of the country. The one with the meat and the seven vegetables.

Cous cous cous ingredients:

For the Moroccan Couscous recipe

1/2 kg of special semolina for couscous.

Water, salt

Sunflower oil

For the stew:

1 kg of meat

salt according to taste

1 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp. turmeric powder

a pinch of saffron

2 medium tomatoes

2 medium onions

1 or 2 tbsp. olive oil

a small bunch of parsley and coriander tied tightly with string

2 cups of chickpea tea (soaked in water overnight)

Moroccan Couscous recipe the vegetables:

3 white turnips, peel them and divide them in two (by their length).

1/4 cabbage (better if the leaves are stuck to the base)

5 large carrots, peel and halve them (by their length)

Red pumpkin, 4 pieces (about the volume of the palm of your hand), do not remove the skin

3 zucchini, peel and cut in two (lengthwise)

2 hot peppers

Preparation of the Moroccan Cous Cous

In the pot for the stew, put the olive oil + meat + salt to taste + black pepper + ginger + diced tomatoes + finely sliced onions + parsley and coriander bouquet garni, put the pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally until we feel that the meat has absorbed the spices and oil, then add the chickpeas and two large glasses of water, put the lid on and let it cook.

When leaving the stew on the fire, we are going to begin the preparation of the couscous, it is something difficult when it is done for the first time but if you catch the technique you will see how easy it is, I will try to explain it to you as simply as I can:

We put the couscous in a large flat bowl (like a large tray) because we need space to work. We are wetting little by little with water and passing the fingers of both hands through the wet grains starting at the top and going down, so that both hands go in the same direction (to the right and then to the left) as if we were creating waves. In this way, we introduce the water in all the grains without letting them stick together (it is very important that they are separated). It is necessary to add only a little bit of water, like a medium glass, because the grains absorb it quickly and also a little bit of salt before starting to mix.

Moroccan Couscous recipe

Moroccan Couscous recipe: Let it rest for one or two minutes and then put them in the container with holes (stir so that it is loose and evenly distributed), place it over the pot with the stew that is cooking on the fire without covering it and wait for the steam to start coming out, from that point we expect it to cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

We remove the container from the top of the pot and leave it aside. Add a liter of water approximately to the stew because it cannot be without broth. put the cooked couscous in the same tray that we used before, very careful not to burn, you can use a spoon or two small plates (glass or wooden) instead of hands and begin to separate the grains until they are completely loose, add a little water (we use again a glass or less) and this time, a little vegetable oil tb, and continue moving until the water is absorbed and the couscous is cooled.

Moroccan Couscous recipe

Moroccan Couscous recipe: We put the couscous back in the container with holes, place it over the stew pot and leave it on the fire until it starts to steam like the previous time, wait another 5 minutes and remove it again, and repeat the same operation of adding the water and separating the grains… if we see that we need a little more oil, we add it (it usually helps to release the grains better but do not use much). This operation is repeated at least 3 or 4 times until the couscous is well cooked, the grains become fatter, softer and clearer. When it is ready, cover it with something to keep it warm.

In the meantime, continue cooking the meat, and we must always keep checking it, when we see that it reaches ¾ of the cooking time, add the turnips and let it cook for 10-15 minutes, then add the carrots and wait another 5 minutes, then add the zucchini, the pieces of pumpkin and the part of the cabbage. As you may have noticed, we add from the slowest to the fastest cooking, the cooking time may vary depending on the fire, go checking if the vegetables are ready and do not let them cook too much, when you feel them ready, remove them from the fire until the end. Taste the broth to see if it needs a little more salt or spices. When everything is cooked, we return all the vegetables (in case we have taken them out) and leave everything cooking for one or two minutes more.

How to present correctly a dish of Cous Cous

Moroccan Couscous recipe: In Morocco, a main dish is used where all the diners share the meal. First we put the couscous in this plate (that must be of big size of course), we spread it all over the plate and then we hollow the middle so that it is elevated by the edges and a little hole in the center with very little quantity.

We separate the broth from the meat and the vegetables.

We are sprinkling the couscous with the broth, distributing with a twist of wrist for the whole plate, then we put the meat in the hollow that we leave in the middle, and we are organizing the vegetables above as we please, you can go putting them to the sides of the meat forming a species of pyramid and to go alternating according to the colors so that it is showy. Also add the chili peppers for those who like it spicy and sprinkle again with the broth.

In small bowls, we can put what we have left of broth and serve them with the dish for those who want to add more to the couscous.

It is served preferably very hot.

Advices:

Moroccan Couscous recipe: You can remove the bunch of parsley and coriander at the time of serving the dish or leave it, it depends on the tastes.

It is possible to do without some vegetables if you do not find them or if nobody likes them.

If you do not have the cuscusera, you can use any pot and adapt a strainer of aluminum paste and you cover it making the preparation as it indicates.

For those who do not like to share the dish, you can put the couscous in a bowl and the meat and the vegetables in another one and let each one serve himself, or serve in the same way indicated before but in individual plates.