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Bidaoui Couscous
Introduction
Couscous
is probably the most known dish that is typically Moroccan. There
are many different interpretations of the recipe apparently if we
look at the back of couscous bags in the supermarkets; well this is
the real deal, a typical Bidaoui Couscous with seven vegetables.
Enjoy it.
Ingredients
[8-10 people]
1
packet of couscous (1 kg or 2lbs)
1 kg of meat (knuckle of veal or shoulder of mutton)
1 medium sized Savoy cabbage
1 kg (2lbs) of onions
4 or 5 tomatoes
500 gms(1lb) of red pumpkin
250 gms (9ozs.) of aubergines
500 gms (1lb) of carrots
2 hot peppers (chilies)
1 handful chopped coriander
150 gms (5ozs.) of butter for the stock.
150 gms (5ozs.) of butter to pour over the couscous when cooked.
1/2 teaspoonful of saffron (preferably crushed flowers)
1 soupspoon of peppers
6 liters (11 pints) of water
salt to taste.
Preparation
Put
the pieces of meat cut into largish pieces, two sliced onions, the
diced cabbage, butter, salt and pepper at the bottom of the
couscous steamer. Pour in 6 liters of water, and bring to boil.
Then put the upper half of the steamer, full of rolled couscous,
over the boiling stock. Seal together the two parts of the steamer
with a piece of cloth soaked in flour and water paste so that the
steam can escape only through the top. Allow to cook for half and
hour from the moment the couscous begins to steam.
Take the
couscous off the heat and pour into the (a large deep dish made of
earthenware or wood for mixing bread and making dough), press light
with a ladle to separate the grains, allow cooling and sprinkling
with water. Let the couscous air and then sprinkle with water again
until the grains are swollen and soaked with water. Leave it to
absorb all the water. In the meantime, about an hour before
serving, place in the bottom part of the steamer (which is still
boiling) the tomatoes, the aubergines (quartered but not peeled),
the onions, carrot and turnip (all peeled and quartered), the hot
peppers and the chopped (or crushed) coriander. Cook the pumpkin
cut 9 quarters separately in a little of the stock. Check the
seasoning of the stock and, half an hour before serving, put the
couscous back to steam, making sure to seal the two halves of the
steamer as before. When the couscous begins to steam, take it off
the heat and add the 150 gms of melted butter, mix well, and pour
on as much of the stock as the couscous can absorb, stirring all
the time. Put on to a large round dish with the couscous heaped
into a pyramid and the meat and vegetables placed in a scooped out
hollow at the top of the cone. Serve at once, putting a bowl of the
stock on one side for those who like their couscous more moist.
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