Couscous with vegetables and tfaya: the Moroccan recipe done right

Couscous is Morocco’s Friday dish, and tfaya turns it into a celebration: onions caramelised with raisins and cinnamon on top of the vegetables and meat. In this video we show you the secret of a light couscous that melts in your mouth.

Ingredients

• 1 kg fine couscous
• 1 kg lamb or beef
• Vegetables: carrots, turnips, courgettes, pumpkin, cabbage and a few soaked chickpeas
• One onion and one tomato for the broth
• Ginger, pepper, turmeric, a little saffron and salt
• A bunch of parsley and coriander
• Half a glass of olive oil and one spoon of smen
• For the tfaya: 1 kg sliced onions, 150 g raisins, one spoon of cinnamon, 3 spoons of honey or sugar, and a little butter

Method

1. In the bottom of the couscoussier, put the meat with the onion, tomato, spices, oil, parsley, coriander and chickpeas; brown for a few minutes, then add water.
2. Moisten the couscous with a little water and oil and steam it for the first time until the steam rises through it.
3. Tip it into the dish, sprinkle with salted water, fluff it well, and add the hard vegetables (carrots and turnips) to the broth.
4. Steam the couscous a second time and add the soft vegetables (courgettes and pumpkin) at the end.
5. For the tfaya: cook the onions in a little broth until soft, add the soaked raisins, cinnamon, honey and butter, and let them caramelise until brown and glossy.
6. On the last steaming, mix the couscous with the smen and a little broth.
7. On the serving dish: couscous in a dome, meat in the middle, vegetables around and tfaya on top. Serve with the broth on the side.

Tips from the countryside

• Fluffy couscous comes from several steamings and good fluffing, not from lots of water.
• Honey in the tfaya gives a deeper sweetness than sugar. Dark carob honey pairs beautifully with cinnamon and raisins.

See also

Seffa medfouna with chicken and rfissa with beldi chicken.