Ingredients
- 1 coffee cup of sunflower oil, 3 tomatoes, 100g dry chickpeas, 3 carrots, 2 turnips, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 onion, about 500g mutton
- 1 portion of pumpkin, 3 potatoes, 2-3 hot peppers, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp tabel (Tunisian spice mix of coriander and caraway)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp coarse salt, 500g medium semolina (or fine, by choice), 1 tbsp olive oil, 40cl water
Preparation
Start by boiling your chickpeas in water. Personally, I prefer to cook them beforehand because I find they are never cooked enough in the couscous if they only simmer in the broth. Once cooked, set aside.
Next, place your couscous steamer over low heat (personally, I did the entire cooking on low heat and it is sufficient. The goal is to simmer well...). In the heating steamer, add the sunflower oil + roughly chopped onion + mutton. Let it brown for 2-3 minutes.
Add the 3 tomatoes roughly cut into wedges + the (drained) chickpeas + carrots cut into slices + roughly cut turnips + finely sliced garlic cloves + spices + coarse salt. As for the potatoes + pumpkin... we will add those later ;)
As you add the ingredients to the steamer, stir with a large spoon so that all the ingredients and flavors mix well.
When everything is well mixed, pour 2 liters of hot water over this mixture. Mix well and increase the heat until boiling. When it boils, lower back to low heat so it simmers gently.
Moving on to the Semolina
In a large bowl, pour your semolina + 1 tbsp olive oil + 20cl cold water + fine salt. Using your hands, mix well and separate the grains if they tend to form lumps.
Pour this mixture into the top part of the couscous steamer (the colander) and place it over the rest of the couscous. Put the lid on and let it simmer like this for about 30 minutes. You do not need to stir during this time, neither the vegetables nor the semolina.
