Couscous Imperial

Name: Couscous Imperial
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients: ½ cup almonds, toasted (optional); water or meat or poultry broth as needed; ¼ cup olive oil; ½ cup golden raisins; 2 pounds stewing beef or lamb cut into 2-inch pieces, or 1 chicken, cut into serving portions; honey to taste (optional); harissa to taste; 4 cooked quince (optional); ½ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed and steeped in ¼ cup hot water or broth; 2 large onions, chopped; 1 pound pumpkin squash, peeled and cut into 1 ½- to 2-inch chunks; 1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight; 6 large or 12 small carrots, peeled and cut into 1 ½-inch chunks; 2 teaspoons salt; 3 large or 6 small turnips, peeled and quartered or cut into 1 ½-inch pieces; 6 small zucchini, cut into 2-inch lengths; 3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped; 2 teaspoons ground ginger; 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper; couscous for serving

Imperial Couscous

Preparation info

Serves
6 to 8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Saffron Shores

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 2002

About

Ingredients

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight
2 pounds stewing beef or lamb cut into 2-inch pieces, or 1

Method

This is my recipe for a basic couscous meal. It can be made with beef, lamb, or chicken. This version is a cross between one from Tangier and one from Fez. Algerian cooks prefer beef or chicken for their couscous, not lamb. Sometimes beef and chicken are used together. Meatballs may replace the chunks of meat or poultry (see a basic meatball recipe). On Rosh H