BARLEY COUSCOUS WITH SEVEN VEGETABLES

Barley Couscous with Seven Vegetables image

Traditionally, the Berbers first made couscous with barley, and barley couscous is still very popular, especially in the south of Morocco. It is now available in precooked form from some Middle Eastern stores. You can substitute ordinary couscous. You can make the broth with lamb, beef, or veal (preferably shoulder, neck fillet, or knuckle) and with a choice of vegetables. According to local lore, seven is a magic number that brings good luck. Onions, tomatoes, and chili peppers count as flavorings, so you must have seven more vegetables. I have listed eight, so drop one. The number of ingredients makes it seem a scary endeavor, but it is only a matter of throwing things into a pot, and it makes a spectacular one-dish meal for a large party. You will need a very big pot.

Yield serves 10

Number Of Ingredients 25

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Ingredients

5 cups barley couscous
5 cups warm water
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup sunflower or vegetable oil
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
3 pounds meat (see above)
3 large onions
3/4 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight
Black pepper
1/2 teaspoon saffron powder or threads
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 pound tomatoes, peeled and quartered
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into strips
1 pound small turnips, halved
1 small white cabbage, cut in chunks
1 pound new potatoes
2 chili peppers (optional)
Salt
4 stalks celery, halved
1 pound orange pumpkin, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 pound zucchini
1/2 pound young fava beans (shelled weight), or frozen fava beans, defrosted
1/2 cup chopped coriander
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Steps:

Prepare the couscous in a large, round, ovenproof dish as described on page 112, leaving the final heating in the oven to be done 20 to 30 minutes before serving.
Cut the meat into 10 pieces and the onions into quarters, then into thick slices, and put them in a large pan with the drained chickpeas. Cover with about 6 pints of water, bring to the boil, and remove the scum. Add the pepper (no salt is added at this stage since it would stop the chickpeas from softening), saffron, cinnamon, and ginger and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
Now put in the tomatoes, carrots, turnips, cabbage, potatoes, cut in half or left whole if small, and the whole chilies, if using. Add salt, and cook for 30 minutes, or until the meat is very tender.
Add the celery, pumpkin, zucchini, cut into fat slices or left whole if they are baby ones, fava beans, and herbs. Add more water, if necessary, taste, and adjust the seasoning, and cook 30 minutes more.
About 20 to 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time-when the last vegetables go in-put the couscous into the oven, preheated to 400°F, and heat through until it is steaming hot, taking it out and fluffing it with a fork after about 10 minutes. Before serving, fork the butter, cut into small pieces, into the couscous and fluff up the couscous as it melts in.
To serve, moisten the couscous with a little broth and shape it into a cone with a crater at the top. Arrange some meat in the crater and some vegetables down the sides, then pour a little broth over the mound. Bring the remaining broth, meat, and vegetables to the table in another bowl. Alternatively, bring the couscous to the table in one dish, and the broth with the meat and vegetables in another, and serve them directly into individual bowls or soup plates.
Use 2 chickens cut into pieces instead of the meat.
For a peppery sauce, pass around a bowl with 3 to 4 ladles of the hot broth mixed with 1 tablespoon or more harissa or 2 tablespoons paprika and 1 teaspoon or more chili pepper. Although this was originally a Tunisian and Algerian custom, not Moroccan, the French like it as do some of us now.