Couscous with Vegetables

couscous is one of the most famous national dishes of Morocco. In this African country it is customary to cook with lamb, chicken, fish or vegetables.



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Ingredients

• 400 g canned or 200 g dried chickpeas;
• 8 small onions;
• 2 carrots;
• 2 zucchini;
• 1 large potato;
• 5 small eggplants;
• 500 g of pumpkin;
• ½ a bunch of fresh leaf parsley;
• ½ a bunch of fresh mint;
• 30 g of ginger root;
• 1 generous pinch of saffron;
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds;
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds;
• 1 tablespoon tomato sauce;
• 1 liter of salted vegetable broth (can be replaced simply with a liter of salted water);
• 300 g of couscous (can be replaced with round polished rice);
• Sour cream or spicy ketchup - to taste.
  
  

Preparation

We begin with chickpeas. If you use dry, soak it for 8-10 hours. Then rinse under running water, put in a large saucepan, pour boiling water, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until ready (about an hour). Drain the water.

Put onion in a deep bowl, pour boiling water and let stand for a couple of minutes. Then gently remove the bulbs and clean them.

Brush carrots, zucchini, potatoes, aubergines, cut into large (approximately 2 × 1 × 1 cm) blocks. Also cut the pumpkin large.

Parsley and mint wash under a stream of running water and roughly cut.

Clean ginger, roughly chop it with a knife and place in a large saucepan. Then send saffron, cumin seeds, coriander, most of the mint and parsley (leaving a little for powdering), tomato sauce, pour vegetable broth (water). Bring to a boil, then add the onions, carrots, pumpkin and potatoes.

Cover and let the mixture soak over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Then add the remaining vegetables, prepared boiled (or canned) chickpeas, cover again and leave on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the vegetable mixture is ready, prepare the couscous according to the instructions on the package (or boil the rice without forgetting to add water).

Put on each plate 1-2 tablespoons of couscous (rice), top cover 3-4 tablespoons of couscous, sprinkle the remaining herbs and serve on the table. If you want, you can add a little sour cream or ketchup to the dish.

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Thanks for reading. Stay healthy!