Couscous recipe

Libyan couscous steamed over a red lamb and tomato sauce, piled with a sweet onion and chickpea topping and pumpkin, finished with cinnamon.

2 hoursmedium11 ingredients

Ingredients

• 500 g coarse couscous
• 1000 g lamb
• 100 g tomato paste
• 6 onions
• 200 g chickpeas
• 500 g pumpkin
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 90 ml olive oil
• 1 tbsp salt

How to make Couscous

1. Brown 1 kg of lamb pieces with 1 diced onion in 90 ml of olive oil, then add 100 g of tomato paste, 1 tablespoon of turmeric, 2 teaspoons of chili powder and 1 tablespoon of salt and fry 3 minutes.
2. Pour in 1.5 litres of water and let the sauce simmer while everything else is prepared; it needs a full hour.
3. Slice 5 onions, salt them lightly and steam them in the top of the couscoussier over the sauce for 20 minutes.
4. Moisten 500 g of coarse couscous with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a pinch of salt and about 250 ml of water and rub it between your palms so the grains separate.
5. Cook the steamed onions in a small pan with 200 g of cooked chickpeas, 2 ladles of the sauce and a little tomato paste for 30 minutes to make the boosla topping.
6. Add 500 g of pumpkin chunks to the sauce, set the couscous in the steamer basket on top and steam it uncovered by the sauce for 30 minutes, breaking up the grains halfway.
7. Never boil the couscous in water: it is the steam of the meat sauce that flavours the grain, and that is what makes the dish Libyan.
8. Fluff the couscous onto a platter, stir through 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a few spoonfuls of the red oil from the top of the sauce.
9. Top with the onion and chickpea mixture, the lamb and the pumpkin, dust with a pinch more cinnamon and serve.

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