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Published: March 21st 2007
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I recently was lucky to recieve a phone call from a classroom I have been corresponding with in Wisconsin. Peace Corps' World Wise Schools program matched me with Mrs. Burge's 2nd grade class in Holmen and we have been corresponding for several months. Last month in celebration of Peace Corps Week and the 46th anniversay of Kennedy's creation, Peace Corps paid for an hour long call between me, some of my English speaking students, and the students at Viking Elementary in Holmen. I promised during the call that I would put my friend Maryam's recipe for couscous on my blog since nobody managed to write it down as fast as she explained it over the phone.
Bs-hha u rahha!
Maryam’s Couscous serves 7
1 kilo of dry couscous (not instant stuff, real couscous)
water
olive or vegetable oil
butter
½ kilo meat (beef or chicken, not cut up)
3 medium sized onions, cut in large slices
3 medium tomatoes, cut in large slices
1 cup garbanzo beans, presoaked overnight
7 large carrots, peeled, cut in half long ways and cored
5 small turnips, peeled and cut in half long ways
¼ kilo cabbage, (1/4 of a
medium sized cabbage) cut in half
5 small zucchini, not cut up
½ kilo pumpkin, cut in fourths with rind still on
1 potato peeled, cut in fourths long ways
1 small bunch of parsley tied with a blade of grass of string
olive oil and vegetable oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp powdered ginger
salt and pepper to taste
Couscous preparation:
Pour the couscous into a large dish, at least 18 inches wide and 3 to 4 inches deep. Sprinkle one cup of water over couscous, mixing with hands. Put uncovered in a steamer (pot with holes in the bottom that fits in the top of a larger pot with boiling water in the bottom). Steam for 45 minutes, until steam comes up thickly through the couscous. Pour couscous back in large dish, sprinkle 1 ½ cups water over couscous, mix with hands and break up any clumps. Steam for another 45 minutes. Pour back in large dish and sprinkle with ½ cut olive oil and 1 tbs salt, mix with hands. Steam another 45 minutes to an hour. Pour in large dish sprinkle with 2 tbs butter, mix to be sure all grains are separated. Taste and add salt if necessary. The couscous should now be ready but can be placed back in the top of the steamer to keep warm if the vegetables aren’t ready yet. During the steaming process check often to be sure there is enough water in the bottom.
Tsegia (vegetable sauce) preparation:
In a pressure cooker or large pot put the meat, onions, tomatoes, salt and oil. Fry for 5 minutes or until onions become translucent. Add spices, 2 cups of water and garbanzo beans. Boil covered 30 minutes. Open pot and add water if necessary. Add carrots, turnips, cabbage, parsley and boil for another 30 minutes. Then add zucchini and pumpkin and boil for another 20 minutes. Note: cooking times make be longer if you don’t use a pressure cooker. Chicken may take less time to cook than beef and can be removed and set aside when cooked if desired.
Serving:
Pour couscous in large serving dish, preferable the one used for mixing couscous with the water. Spread couscous out evenly so it is flat across the dish. Take the meat from the pressure cooker and place in the middle of the couscous. Pour vegetables around and over the meat, arranging them so they are spread out evenly. Pour sauce over the top and put the extra sauce in a gravy dish so more can be added if desired.
In Morocco couscous is traditionally eaten from the serving dish with spoons or with hands. The family sits around a circular table and each person eats what is in front of them. After all the vegetables and most of the couscous has been eaten the head of the family (sometimes the mother, sometimes the father) divides up the meat, which has been cooked very soft, and puts a small portion in front of each person, in the part of the dish they have been eating from. Couscous is usually eaten on Friday afternoons when the family gets together for the big meal of the week. Buttermilk is traditionally served towards the end of the meal.
Bs-hha u rahha! (literally: With health and relaxation) The meaning is similar to the French “bon apétit.”
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Cathy
non-member comment
Thanks
Hi Heather, I just visited the blog! Thanks for the couscous recipe! Please also thank Maryam! Love, Cathy