Moroccan How To #6: Couscous

Alright, the blog post that so many of you have been waiting for.  How to make Moroccan couscous.  For many of you, the only couscous you know is the boxed kind that you add water to and let boil for 20 minutes and then eat.  Well that is not Moroccan couscous.  Moroccan couscous is a time consuming meal to make. You should allow 2 hours to prepare it correctly.  Moroccan couscous is by no means an exact science and you should play with the recipe to find what tastes best to you.  Saying that, here are the instructions to make traditional meat and vegetable couscous.

1: Buy plain couscous (approximately 1 pound for six people), meat of your preference (beef or chicken works best), and vegetables.  Suggestions for vegetables are carrots, turnips, zucchini, pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, onions, green peppers and potatoes.

2: First cook the meat.  This should be done in the bottom half of a steamer pot.  See picture below.

This is the pot you need

3: Add vegetables that take longer to soften as boiled; turnips, carrots, potatoes, green peppers, zucchini.  Pour enough water into pot so that all vegetables are submerged.

Veggies are ready to cook!

4: Pour couscous onto a large plate or into a pan with raised edges.  Using your hands, mix the couscous so that there are no clumps.

Couscous straight from the package

5: Pour about one cup of water into the couscous, little by little, so that couscous is moist.

My host mom used her hand to splash a little bit of the water on the couscous at a time

6: Next you will take the top part of the steamer pot and put the couscous into it.

7: Allow about 10-15 minutes to steam.

8: Dump the couscous back into large plate or pan and mix it again so that there are no clumps.

9: Add another cup of water to the couscous, little by little, so that couscous becomes moist again.

10: Sprinkle a 3 to 4 tablespoons salt over couscous and mix again.

Can you tell what's salt and what's couscous?

11: Pour 1/4 cup olive oil over couscous and mix well.

Just a little bit of olive oil

12: Ensure that the vegetables in the bottom of the steamer pot are still covered in water and if not add more.

13: Add remaining vegetables into bottom of steamer pot; squash, pumpkin, tomatoes etc.

14: Put couscous back into top part of steamer pot and allow another 20 to 25 minutes to steam.

15: After couscous has cooked again, dump back into large plate or pan and mix again so that there are no clumps.

16: Mix in another cup of water so that couscous is fluffy.

17: Transfer couscous onto large serving plate and spread out evenly.

18: Check on vegetables and see if they are done.  If not, continue boiling until they are soft.

19: Season vegetables and meat to taste with bullion cube, salt, pepper etc..

20: Ladle the vegetables and meat into the center of the plate.

The finished product..... YUM!

21: Pour the remaining juices into a bowl for people to use as they like.

22: Moroccans like to eat couscous with buttermilk.  If you're a fan of buttermilk, try it.

23: Eat with a spoon or try the Moroccan way, with your right hand.

24: Enjoy!  Bismillah!


And that's how its done ladies and gentlemen.  I hope you've enjoyed this Moroccan how to and look forward to the next one!