By Walid Boudina
Asians have rice, Belgians have french fries, Americans have hamburgers, but in my country, our national food is couscous. This food is fairly cheap, and also tastes plain, but with the right ingredients, my country made it an internationally known recipe. It is part of my menu on a monthly basis, but that’s mainly because we now live in America. If I still lived in my country, we would probably be eating couscous on a weekly basis.
It is also the main dish during the month of Ramadan, mainly because of its simplicity, which is the whole purpose of that holy month, as well as the main dish during weddings, where the family of the husband usually prepares enough couscous for the whole neighbourhood and invites anyone who passes by.
Couscous is often cooked with lots of vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, but it can also include meat and chicken depending on what type of taste you are looking for. The grain also comes in many sizes. As much as I like fast food, couscous will always stay my favourite food, mainly because of its simplicity, its taste, and obviously because I’ve been eating it for my whole life. If you are reading this, you should probably be cooking instead. The taste will definitely speak for itself.
Recipe
Ingredients
– ¼ vegetable oil
– 4 cubes boneless lamb shoulder
– 1 broiler-fryer, cut up
– 2 onions, quartered
– 1 tsp dried coriander
– ½ tsp salt
– 2 sprigs parsley
– ¼ tsp turmeric
– ¼ tsp black pepper
– ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
– 3 potatoes, quartered
– 3 carrots, quartered
– 3 cups medium grain couscous, precooked
Sauce:
– ¼ cup olive oil
– 1 clove garlic
– 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
– 2 tsp red pepper flakes
– ⅛ tsp cayenne
– ⅛ tsp ground cumin
– coriander sprigs
– lemon wedges for garnish
All of the ingredients can be found at Maxi or IGA.
Procedure
- Heat oil in a large Dutch oven.
- Add lamb cubes. Cook 5 to 10 minutes, until brown. Remove with slotted spoon.
- Add onions, coriander, salt, parsley, turmeric, pepper, and saffron. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat.
- Simmer, covered, 30 minutes, or until meat is almost tender.
- Stir in potatoes and carrots.
- Simmer, covered, 15 to 20 minutes, until vegetables are fork-tender.
- Stir in beans.
- Remove 3 cups of the cooking liquid from pan with a ladle.
- Pour into a large saucepan. Heat to a boil.
- Stir in couscous. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes.
- For sauce, put all ingredients and ¼ cup of the cooking liquid into blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
- Spoon cooked couscous over bottom of large serving platter.
- Pile meats and vegetables over couscous.
- Garnish with coriander sprigs and lemon wedges.
- Serve with harissa sauce.
Photo source: http://hotforfood.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/orange-infused-couscous-salad1.jpg
