From “Medina Kitchen: Home Cooking from North Africa” (from the chapter on Fez, Morocco) by Fiona Dunlop (a British cookbook as you’ll see by the metricity)
Couscous m’hassel
- vegetable oil for frying, plus 2-3 tablespoons for the couscous (I used olive oil)
- 1 kg (2lb 4oz) onions, peeled and sliced
- 3 tsp crushed saffron
- 3 tsp ground ginger
- 3 tsp ground black pepper
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 500g (1 lb 2 oz) raisins
- 1-2 Tbsp granulated sugar (I only used 2 tsp and that seemed good enough)
- 1 1/2 kg (3 lb 5 oz) chicken pieces (I used a few pounds of crimini mushrooms instead)
- 750g (1 lb 10 oz) couscous
- 50 ml (2 oz) water
- about 100g (3 1/2 oz) salted butter (I left this out)
- 150g (5.5 oz) toasted almonds as garnish (I left is out too)
Chicken (mushrooms)
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and 1 tsp each of the spices (except the cinnamon) over low heat until the onion is soft. Add the raisins, 1 tsp cinnamon and sugar. (I put some salt in as well). Cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to allow flavors to meld.
- Sprinkle the chicken with the remaining spices and cook in a steamer, covered, for about an hour or until the chicken is cooked through. (Instead, I chopped up a couple pounds of mushrooms and cooked them in the big pan the onions had been cooked in. Takes much less than one hour.)
- Cook the couscous (see below)
- Arrange the chicken pieces (mushrooms) over the top of the cooked couscous, pour over the onion and raisin mixture, then garnish w/ a sprinkling of toasted almonds before serving.
Couscous
- In a large wide bowl, rub water (about 700-750 ml for 750g couscous) and 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the grain, lifting and rubbing it repeatedly to distribute the moisture. Set aside to swell for 15 minutes.
- Transfer to a double steamer or “couscoussier” with either or vegetables simmering hard below. (I used a mesh colander and that was fine.) Steam for 15 minutes with the lid off.
- Return the couscous to the bowl, spread out with a wooden spoon, sprinkle with more water and oil and some salt. Lift and stir the grains, breaking up any lumps. (She says, “Oil your hands to do this more effectively” but only a sadist would suggest you put your hands into something that’s been steaming for 15 minutes.)
- Return the couscous to the steamer for 15 minutes.
- Put the couscous back into the bowl, add some liquid (water, stock or even rose water) to moisten thoroughly break up any lumps with the wooden spoon and rework, separating the grains as much as possible.
- Return to steamer for final 15 minutes.
- Put in a large serving bowl, adding some salted butter to make it glisten (ah, that’s where the butter I didn’t use was meant to go).