Moroccan couscous with seven vegetables

Method

1. 1
   Step 1. At the start (minute 0): drain the chickpeas. In the lower pot of a couscoussier (or in a tall, heavy pot), warm the oil and 30 g of butter over medium heat. Add the lamb, onions, ginger, turmeric, pepper, saffron and 1 teaspoon of salt (the rest is adjusted at the end: smen and butter may already be salted), and turn the meat for about 10 minutes, until it has lost its raw colour.⏱ 10 min
2. 2
   Step 2. From minute 10: add the chickpeas and 2.5 litres of water. Bring to the boil, skim the foam, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour (until about minute 70). Check the level from time to time: the broth must always cover the meat and stay well below the steamer basket; top up with hot water (about 500 ml in all) whenever it drops.⏱ 60 min
3. 3
   Step 3. Around minute 25, during the simmer: spread the couscous in a large dish. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt and rub the grains between your palms. Add the cold water gradually, up to 250 ml, in three goes, rubbing after each addition and waiting until the grains have absorbed it: add only what they take, so the grains stay separate and slightly swollen, never wet or pasty. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.⏱ 10 min
4. 4
   Step 4. Also during the simmer: peel and cut the vegetables as described in the ingredient list. Tie the parsley and coriander in a bunch.
5. 5
   Step 5. First steaming (about minute 45 to 65): when the broth is simmering strongly, loosen the grains with your fingers and pour them into the steamer basket without packing them. Set it over the pot (seal the join with a damp cloth or a strip of dough if steam escapes) and steam for 20 minutes counted from the moment steam rises through the grains.⏱ 20 min
6. 6
   Step 6. Tip the couscous back into the dish and break up any lumps with a fork. Sprinkle with the cold water that is left, up to 250 ml, with a pinch of salt, a little at a time and according to how much the grains absorb (stop as soon as they are damp, not wet), fluff the grains and leave to rest for 10 minutes (until about minute 75).⏱ 10 min
7. 7
   Step 7. Second steaming (about minute 75 to 95): the meat and chickpeas have simmered for 1 hour. Add the carrots, turnips, cabbage and the herb bunch to the broth (top up with hot water if needed). Return the couscous to the steamer, set it over the pot and steam for a second time, 20 minutes, while the vegetables cook.⏱ 20 min
8. 8
   Step 8. From minute 95: lift off the steamer. Add the courgettes, pumpkin, aubergines and tomatoes to the broth, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender but still whole. Meanwhile tip the couscous into the dish, sprinkle it gradually with up to 2 or 3 ladles (about 150 ml) of hot broth, according to how much it absorbs, and break up the lumps. Put it back over the pot for a third steaming of 15 minutes (about minute 100 to 115), until it is very hot and light.⏱ 20 min
9. 9
   Step 9. At about minute 115: tip the couscous into the dish and add the 40 g of butter cut into small pieces now, after the third steaming, fluffing the grains carefully with a fork or your fingertips until each grain is coated and the couscous is light. Taste the broth and adjust the salt and pepper last, because the smen and the butter may already be salted. Pile the couscous in a cone on a large round dish and make a well at the top. Put the lamb in the well, arrange the vegetables and chickpeas around it, moisten with a ladle of broth and serve the rest of the broth in a tureen.