Moroccan COUSCOUS .. Easy way to prepare :D

I promised you my recipe for couscous in stages, a recipe not very complicated but requires a lot of organization and rigor. After a few couscous made, you will become a Pro of this dish.
This Moroccan specialty is a national dish appreciated by everyone, it is often prepared on Friday for the prayer of this day and shared between neighbors. It is also performed during both happy and tragic events.
The couscous is also a dish consumed in North Africa by neighboring countries, each preparing it in its own way according to family recipes and the choice of ingredients. There is a wide variety of couscous: "Bidaoui" with 7 vegetables, raisins and onions, chicken, lamb, green vegetables, K'dra, Khlii (dried salted meat), milk, couscous of "belboula" (with the semolina of barley) ... You are spoiled for choice.

To make a cuckoo in Moroccan fashion and have an authentic taste like there, it is important to respect certain rules:

• Use a couscousier to cook the broth in the pot and the couscous semolina in the steamer. The semolina is better prepared so it is more digestible and light without forgetting that it reveals good flavors brought by the broth.
• To do this use "non-precooked" cucumber semolina. You can find them in grocery stores or oriental butcheries. If not, use pre-cooked semolina but reduce the time for steaming it by 4 to 2 steps (see below).
• Do not mix meat, choose a single variety. The chicken is very good as well as the lamb (mouse, shoulder ...), the veal (hock ...) ... The couscous with fish is a Tunisian specialty, the couscous is not steamed but swollen sipmlement with the red broth raised to the Harissa.
• Use fresh vegetables that you will prepare yourself. It depends on your taste and the season, free to you to vary the pleasures. You can if you want to prepare a couscous with the remaining vegetables you have, the amount of vegetables is also a matter of taste. Some like couscous well-filled with vegetables while others only have semolina and broth.
• Do not abuse spices, couscous is a matter of meat and vegetables, only these ingredients give a very good taste. Only Rass El hanout, pepper, saffron, pepper and ground ginger can be tolerated as spices for vegetable couscous. As for cuckoos with raisins or other sweet, we can incorporate cinnamon. Do not put garlic.
• Respect the cooking time of each ingredient, if you run out of time before you, drop it and do it another day.
• Taste in the same dish, it's a friendly dish, do not take away its charm.

Here is my recipe for couscous with seasonal vegetables.
For 6 persons
Count to 2 hours

For the broth:
1.5 kg of sheep shoulder
2 white onions
1 small bunch of flat parsley
A large glass of dry chickpeas
4 c. tablespoon of neutral oil
Spices: 1 tbsp. coffee full of Rass el Hanout, 1 tbsp. black pepper, 1 tbsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. saffron pistils, 1 tbsp. ground ginger, a Knorr type bouillon cube, a very sweet pepper like a small green pepper called "hot pepper" and salt.
Vegetables: 4 large carrots, 2 zucchini, 4 turnips, 2 potatoes or sweet potatoes, 1 piece of pumpkin, beans. And if you want to vary: white cabbage, pepper, aubergine (be careful it colors the sauce), 1 to 2 tomatoes ...
About 4 L of water

For couscous semolina:
1 kg of medium couscous
2 to 4 tbsp. tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 glass of water at room temperature
Salt
Smen (special rancid butter)

Preparation of the broth:
Put the oil in the pot with couscousier, heat and add the meat cut in large pieces.
Stir in the two onions cut into large slices, the parsley, the spices and mix. To make seize a few moments, it is necessary that the meat colors slightly but not too much, unlike tagine.

Add the chickpeas and the hot pepper.

• Tip: For my part, I soak the chickpeas the night before in warm tap water for about a night. The next day I drain and then I put in a large bag and place in the freezer until the desired time. it does not spoil the taste and it's so convenient.

Mix, then sprinkle with water, generously covering all the meat. Cover and let cook time to prepare vegetables and semolina

Meanwhile, clean and peel the vegetables, cut into large pieces.
For example: the carrot and the zucchini once in the direction of the width then once in the direction of the length. The potato and turnip in four lengthwise, leave the beans well, cut the pumpkin into medium pieces, cut the cabbage in large quarters (incorporate it first) ...

As soon as the meat is half melted and detaches from the bone. Add the turnip and carrot, add 15 minutes and add the remaining vegetables, counting a 15 minutes cooking time.

The pumpkin is cooked separately in a saucepan with a ladle of broth and a ladle of water.

Taste and rectify the seasoning.

• Tip: Do not mix your broth, cook well and make sure that there is plenty of broth that covers the meat and vegetables even at the end of cooking.
  The meat must be very melting, well cooked. Vegetables should be so without turning them into mashed potatoes.

Preparation of the couscous semolina:
In a very large salad bowl (here in bamboo), put the couscous, salt and a good drizzle of olive oil.
Mix with the fingers (not the whole hand) to coat the seeds. Sprinkle with little water little by little while mixing.

This hydrates the couscous, otherwise it would be dry and not leathery.
The seeds come off, roll and have a wet effect.

Then place the couscous semolina in the top of the couscoussier warmed beforehand on the broth.
Lute the two parts of the couscoussier with a seal (I speak here) or failing with a rolled plastic bag or a cloth.
You can either cover the couscous or leave it that way. For my part I cover it to fully enjoy the rising steam.

Tip: Prepare a damp cloth dipped in a dough of flour and water. It will allow to play the two utensils without letting the steam escape.
You can opt for a simpler method that consists of rolling a plastic bag into a pudding, then bind the two utensils by attaching the bag.

After a few minutes of cooking (about 15 minutes), remove the couscous and place in a large dish (usually using a Gasaâ, a dish in the ground).
Spray with a little water and mix with a wooden spoon or your hands to aerate the seeds. Attention it's very hot!

• Tip: Do not put a lot of water, just what you need is small handles by small handles. Roll the seed well otherwise you may get dumplings. If so, discard these small pellets that will not come off.

Return to the top of the couscousier and repeat the operation 3 to 5 times after 15 to 20 minutes, as soon as the couscous is cooked. Do not hesitate to taste it. At the last step, add 1/4 tsp. Smen coffee or rancid butter to perfume and give a subtle taste.
Tip: sprinkle your couscous with a small broth and mix, it will soak up all the flavors.

For training:
Dome the cuckoo in a large hollow dish. Make a well in the center. Sprinkle all the couscous with broth, count about 3 good ladles.
Place the meat in the center, decorate vegetables in a homogeneous way: a carrot, a zucchini, a potato ... Finish with pumpkin and chickpeas. Sprinkle with broth again. Arrange the rest of broth in a bowl to serve at the table.
Serve immediately, very hot. Enjoy with Harissa, fermented or curdled milk.
You may be served couscous with fresh grapes or sliced ​​pastéque, it can refresh the palate because the couscous is very hot.

I promise you two more recipes: barley and green vegetables, raisins and caramelized onions. Two good versions that change basic couscous. And finally, the famous Tunisian couscous made from fish.