Couscous algérien

semolina steamed three times over the broth it will be eaten with, heaped under lamb, chickpeas and a long list of vegetables

Origin: Algiers & the Central Maghreb

From the journey of Wheat.

Couscous is not a grain. It is durum semolina rolled by hand with water and a little flour until it forms tiny pellets, then dried, and the rolling is a skill that used to be taught between women over years. That is the fact most often missed by people who buy it in a box: the box contains a pre-steamed instant version, and the difference between it and properly rolled and steamed couscous is the difference between instant coffee and coffee. The Algerian version is distinguished from the Moroccan chiefly by restraint and by the broth. There is no tfaya, no caramelised onion and raisin, and very little sweetness of any kind; the seasoning is ras el hanout, tomato, and chickpeas, and the vegetables are cut long and arranged rather than stirred through. Courgette, carrot, turnip, and cabbage are standard, and in the east of the country a fiery harissa is served alongside rather than cooked in. The steaming is done three times and this is the part that cannot be shortened. The grain goes into a keskes, the perforated upper chamber of a two-part pot, and steams over the broth below; between steamings it is turned out, raked with wet hands, oiled, and rested so each grain separates and swells evenly. Couscous steamed once is heavy. Couscous steamed three times is light enough that the heap collapses under its own weight when the spoon goes in. UNESCO inscribed couscous in 2020 on a joint nomination from Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and Tunisia, which is a rare and deliberate piece of diplomacy in a region where dish ownership is argued about seriously. The four countries chose to file together rather than against one another, and the inscription covers the knowledge, the rolling, and the implements as much as the dish. In Algeria it is Friday food. It is what is cooked after the midday prayer, in quantities that assume company, and it is served from one dish with the meat set on top of the mound for the household to share.

Ingredients

Grain

700 g medium couscous
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt

Broth

900 g lamb shoulder on the bone, in large pieces
2 onions, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp tomato purée
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp ras el hanout
1 tsp ground caraway
200 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
2 tsp salt, or to taste
2 litres water

Vegetables

3 carrots, quartered lengthways
3 courgettes, quartered lengthways
2 turnips, in wedges
0.5 small cabbage, in wedges

To serve

2 tbsp harissa, to serve

Method

Brown the lamb in the olive oil in the base of a couscoussier or a large pot. Add the onions and cook until soft, then the tomato purée and cook it out for three minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes, ras el hanout, caraway, drained chickpeas, salt, and water. Bring to a simmer.
Now the first steaming. Put the couscous in a wide bowl, sprinkle over 250ml of cold salted water, and rake it through with your fingers until every grain is damp and separate. Leave ten minutes to swell.
Tip the couscous into the perforated top of the couscoussier, or a steamer lined with muslin, set it over the simmering broth, and steam uncovered for fifteen minutes from when steam first rises through the grain.
Turn the couscous out into the bowl. Break up every lump with a fork and then with wet hands, sprinkle over 150ml more water and a tablespoon of oil, rake it through, and rest for ten minutes.
Steam a second time for fifteen minutes. Turn out, rake, oil, and rest again.
Meanwhile add the vegetables to the broth in order of hardness: turnip and carrot first, then after fifteen minutes the cabbage, then the courgette for the final ten. Lift each out as it becomes tender.
Steam the couscous a third time for ten minutes. It should now be light, entirely separate, and swollen to roughly three times its dry volume.
Turn it out, work the remaining oil through with your hands, and taste for salt.
Heap the couscous on a wide platter, hollow the centre, and set the lamb in it. Arrange the vegetables over the mound, ladle broth generously over the whole thing, and serve the rest of the broth and the harissa separately.

Notes

Three steamings, and the raking between them is what separates the grains; skipping straight to a second steaming gives lumps that never come apart. Instant couscous cannot be treated this way and should be made by its packet instructions instead, though it will not be the same dish. Do not stir the vegetables in the broth, lift them out as they are done, or they will collapse. The broth should be poured on at the table and generously.

The Gastrographer

Name: Couscous algérien
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 40 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Algiers & the Central Maghreb
Ingredients: 700 g medium couscous; 4 tbsp olive oil; 2 tsp salt; 900 g lamb shoulder on the bone, in large pieces; 2 onions, chopped; 3 tbsp olive oil; 3 tbsp tomato purée; 2 tomatoes, chopped; 2 tsp ras el hanout; 1 tsp ground caraway; 200 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight; 3 carrots, quartered lengthways; 3 courgettes, quartered lengthways; 2 turnips, in wedges; 0.5 small cabbage, in wedges; 2 tsp salt, or to taste; 2 litres water; 2 tbsp harissa, to serve

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control