Name: Couscous Tunisien
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h 5 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Tunisian
Ingredients: 800 g lamb shoulder, cut into large pieces; 2 onions, chopped; 5 tbsp olive oil; 3 tbsp tomato purée; 2 tbsp harissa; 1 tbsp ground coriander; 1 tbsp ground caraway; 2 tsp fine sea salt; 400 g tin chickpeas, drained; 1 ¾ litres water; 3 carrots, halved lengthways; 2 turnips, quartered; 2 potatoes, halved; 3 courgettes, halved; 2 green peppers, halved; 600 g medium couscous; 5 tbsp olive oil; 1 ½ tsp fine sea salt; 400 ml warm water

Couscous Tunisien

Lamb and vegetables in a red harissa broth, with the couscous steamed over the pot so it takes the vapour. The Friday dish, and the one that repays doing properly.

2 hr 5 min total Serves 8 servings Medium

The couscous is steamed over the stew three separate times, and each pass does a different job: the first hydrates, the second separates the grains as they are raked and oiled, the third makes them light. Instant couscous soaked in a bowl is a different food. The other rule is that the vegetables go in by cooking time rather than all at once — carrot and turnip early, courgette and pepper late — or the pot arrives with some things collapsed and others raw.

How to Make Couscous Tunisien

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Brown the lamb in the oil in the base of a couscoussier or a large pot, 8 minutes. Add the onions and cook 8 minutes more.
Stir in the tomato purée and harissa and fry 2 minutes, until the oil separates and runs red. This is the marqa base.
Add the ground coriander, caraway, salt, chickpeas and water. Bring to a simmer.
Meanwhile rub the couscous with 3 tbsp of the oil and 200 ml of the warm water until every grain is damp and separate. Steam it uncovered over the pot for 20 minutes.
Tip it into a wide bowl, break up the lumps with a fork, sprinkle over the rest of the water and the salt, and rake it through. Steam a second time, 20 minutes.
Add the carrots and turnips to the broth. After 20 minutes add the potatoes; after 15 more add the courgettes and peppers.
Rake the couscous through with the last 2 tbsp oil and steam a third time for 15 minutes. Pile it on a platter, moisten with broth, and arrange the meat and vegetables over the top with the rest of the broth alongside.

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Worth Getting Right

Three steamings. This is what makes the grains light.
Fry the harissa and purée until the oil runs red before any liquid.
Vegetables by cooking time, not all at once.

Pairs Well With

Harissa on the side · Slata tounsia · Buttermilk

Storage

Broth and couscous keep separately for 3 days refrigerated. Re-steam the couscous rather than microwaving it.