Couscous, My Favorite Moroccan Dish!

[AbdurahmanL 0]

Yeah, I'm moroccan, and I love couscous! I eat it here in Los Angeles once a month, but when I was in Morocco a few years ago we used to eat it every week! SUPER YUMMY!Ok this is how you make couscous (I'll be using chicken, you can also use lamb, goat, fish, or cow, NO PORK!)Ok these are the ingredients:1 teaspoon paprika1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin1/8 teaspoon cayenne, optional4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water3 carrots, sliced1 can drained and rinsed chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves1 1/3 cup couscous2 tablespoons cooking oil8 chicken drumstickssalt and ground pepper, to taste1 onion, sliced1 turnip, peeled and cubed2 tablespoons tomato pasteIn a large deep frying pan or dutch oven, heat the oil over moderately high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with salt, if desired, and the black pepper. Put the chicken in the pan and brown well, about 8 minutes in all. Remove. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat. Reduce the heat to moderately low.Add the onion and turnip and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups chicken broth or water and the carrots. Add the chicken and bring to a simmer.Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken and vegetables are almost done, about 20 minutes.Stir in the chickpeas and the parsley and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are done, about 5 minutes longer.Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring remaining 2 cups water or chicken broth to a boil. Add a pinch of salt (may not be necessary if using chicken stock) and the couscous. Cover. Remove the pot from the heat and let the couscous stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Serve the stew with the broth over the couscous.YUM YUM! COUSCOUS! YUM YUM

[avecamour 0]

i LOVE couscous. I mean i make it from a cardboard box but when i go to restaurants it is fabulous!I love it just plain with no meat in it =P

[nirvaman 1]

Ok this is how you make couscous (I'll be using chicken, you can also use lamb, goat, fish, or cow, NO PORK!)

For vegetarians , they can eat it without meat at all .And In Algeria we make couscous the same way , but in summer we use milk and no meat , in east of Algeria , they make it with fish and it's Hmmmm ,I love it with mutton and eggs.
Thanks for this post bro ,I missed Mom's couscous "but i'll eat it in holiday "

[mrdee 1]

AbduRahmanL, you have made my day!I regularly eat home made couscous (although more Middle Eastern style, recipe will follow).However, my only problem was: the couscous spices.Here in England they are not easy to find, maybe in the Arab shops in London, but they will cost an arm and a leg there.Sometimes my wife got them from an annual French market they hold in my town, they sometimes sold them due to the fact a lot of North Africans live in France.But now I have seen your spice mix, I will try that out, they are all things I have in my cupboard and they cost next to nothing.I too, use chicken thighs, but from the end of this month I shall be trying it out using Merguez (which I shall be making myself) and spicy lamb mince meatballs.(For the people who don't know, Merguez are spicy lamb sausages, they are red in colour, and especially popular in North Africa, eg. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and even Egypt).Since I am not an Arab, it is no problem trying couscous out with pork, although you will usually never find any Arabic food containing pork, so I haven't tried it yet.Now, for my version of couscous (An Iraqi friend of mine taught me):the main difference is that I use a pan and steamer, so, I cook the meat and vegetables in the pan, and when that is boiling nicely (near the end before serving) the steamer with the couscous goes on top of it, so, rather than being boiled, the couscous is steamed in the steam of meat and vegetables.I do prepare the couscous prior to steaming by adding a tiny bit of lightly salted water and kneading it together a bit, so it gets firm and sticks together a bit, to prevent it disappearing down the steamer.Now for the rest:heat some oil, and then add a chopped onion to it, add the chicken thighs and let them go brown.Add chicken stock, let simmer for a while, and then add the rest of the vegetables: sliced courgette, a quartered potato and 1 tin of chopped tomatoes.Also add the couscous spices if you have them, or the spices our friend lists in his opening post.One more important thing: add the seeds of a dried lime or use a quartered lemon, washed but not peeled.(You don't have to et the lemon when it is ready (I do), but it makes so much difference to the taste).Let everything come to the boil and then let simmer for about 30 minutes, and about 10-15 minutes before serving, put the couscous on top.(If you have no steamer, you can, of course, do your couscous like AbduRahmanL does it.Well worth a try, I would say, as it is really yummy.And I will certainly AbduRahmanL's couscous a try too.Let me know how you go, please.

Edited February 6, 2011 by mrdee (see edit history)

[lara08 0]

looks like the couscous recipe is really delicious, I've never tried to taste this kind of food and I'm so curious about how it taste, so I,m gonna follow the recipe and try to make this kind of dish.

[mrdee 1]

You will definitely not regret it, Lara.