What you need to know about chickpeas, their benefits and the way to cook them

 Tfaya couscous with raisins, caramelized onions, and chicken or meat is the Moroccan couscous that must be enjoyed at least once in your life.

Couscous tfaya is a Moroccan couscous that is drizzled with a good sauce based on meat, onion, and bouquet garni, and that is decorated with onions and caramelized raisins and for the greediest like me almonds that I crush and that I lightly grill Mmmm a Feast!

Even if you fear the sweet-salty, this couscous whose sauce is subtly flavored with saffron will seduce you; Chickpeas and roasted almonds are essential and the use of saffron pistils is highly recommended.

Ingredients:

about 1-kilo veal
1 large onion, cut into strips
4 small tomatoes or 3 full-size grated tomatoes
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp ginger
1/2 tbsp special couscous spices (optional)
half a small glass of a mixture of olive oil and sunflower oil (or 2 tbsp sunflower oil + 3 tbsp olive oil)
1 tbsp of 'smen' (rancid butter) if you have it!
about 850 g of fine grains couscous

vegetables:

7 small carrots (550 g)
1 small butternut squash (I didn't put everything!)
1 small bunch of fresh coriander
a small can of chickpeas

Ingredients for onion confit 'tfaya':

4 large onions
100 to 150 g raisins (brown or blond)
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3 tbsp oil
1/2 cinnamon stick
1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder
4 tbsp powdered sugar

Preparation:

Start by washing the raisins and then soak them in a bowl of hot tap water.
Pour the semolina into a large dish. Pour cold water over it directly from the tap, until the semolina is widely covered. Rinse it quickly by passing your hand through the grains. Gently tilt the dish to evacuate all this added water (white, opaque water with possibly some impurities). If there is a little water left, it does not matter, the semolina will absorb everything by drying but it is necessary to remove as much water as we can. Place the dish in a corner of the kitchen and let the couscous grains 'dry', and absorb excess water.

In the pressure cooker, put the spices: 1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp pepper, 1 tbsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp ginger powder, 1/2 tbsp special couscous spices if you have any, and half a glass of water. Mix with a wooden spoon. Place the pieces of meat on top of the spices and turn and turn them to coat them with this marinade.
Add an onion cut into strips. Put the lid on it and let marinate for a little time to prepare the vegetables...
Peel the onions from the tfaya, rinse and cut them into fairly thin strips. The best is to cut them without a cutting board, holding half of the onion in your hand and detailing regular slices over a large saucepan.

Brush butternut squash underwater. Cut off its ends, and empty it of its seeds with a tablespoon. Detail it into large pieces, which are reserved in a large bowl of cold water.
Peel the carrots with a steward and remove the heart only if the carrot is not tender, if they are young carrots, the heart can be preserved; Thus they will have a better hold and will withstand prolonged cooking. Cut them in half lengthwise and set aside, soaked in cold water.
Sort and rinse the coriander stems under water (do not hesitate to immerse them well in water to remove all traces of soil). Tie them into a small bouquet. It is possible to make a bouquet with parsley and coriander mixed, but the coriander perfumes are more I find.

Drain the can of chickpeas, rinse them, removing all the scum. Reserve. Grate the tomatoes with the large holes in the grater. Reserve these finely crushed tomatoes (keep the tomato skins).
Back to the meat that marinated a little... Add half a glass of water on the edge so that it does not catch and prevent the spices from cracking and then light the fire. Also, add half a glass of oil mixture. Sauté the meat for a few minutes (at least ten minutes) by turning the pieces of meat often. Cover every time.

Boil enough water in the couscoussier's pot. Add this water a small piece of lemon and the skin of the tomatoes to prevent the pot from blackening with the boiling water. At the same time, separate the couscous grains with your hands. With your fingers, grasp the blocks of grains and rub them between your hands to separate all the grains. Place them in the couscoussier. As soon as the water boils, steam the semolina for 20 minutes (I set the timer). Remember to wrestle the edges by placing a ribbon of cloth on the edge of the pot; Place the top of the couscoussier on top so that the steam passes through the couscous grains and escapes from above and not on the sides.

Do not forget to turn the meat. Add the small spoon of smen (if you have one), and the grated tomatoes. Add 1 and a half liters of boiling water (from the kettle). Mix. Close the pressure cooker. Allow 40 minutes of cooking as soon as the valve is whispered, but it depends on whether your meat is tender or not.

Meanwhile, start cooking the tfaya. I cook it without water. In principle, over low heat, the onion will release its water and this is enough to cook it, but if you find that it catches too much, then you can add a small glass of water at the beginning of cooking. Add the drained raisins over the onions and the half cinnamon stick, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp turmeric, and 3 tbsp oil. Mix with a wooden spoon and over low heat sauté everything, stirring often and covering each time. When the onions and grapes are cooked, add the 4 tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Let caramelize, and cook the onions, stirring often. Be careful, at this stage of cooking, if you forget to mix, it may catch and burn. When the whole take a brown color and is well candied, stop cooking, cover and reserve.

When the meat is cooked, add the drained carrots and a little water to lengthen the broth. Close the casserole and count about 8 minutes from the whisper of the valve.
Meanwhile, remove the couscoussier from the heat and spill it over the large dish. Add about 1/2 tbsp salt and 3 tbsp olive oil preferably. Gradually add 3 and a half glasses of water (my glass = 150 ml) by sprinkling the couscous grains and separating them with a fork so as not to burn your fingers. Mix the whole with your fingers when it is less hot. The whole thing should be damp but not too wet. Let the couscous rest, and the time that the grains are filled with water, swell.

The carrots are cooked but can still withstand a few extra minutes of cooking. Add the pieces of squash, chickpeas, and a small bunch of cilantro. Add a good pinch of pepper to the vegetables, it will flavor the broth. Let cook without closing the pressure cooker, just cover and monitor the cooking of the added vegetables. The cooking of the latter will be fast. The squash should be melting, but just right. Judging the cooking of these vegetables by planting the blade of a knife that sinks should not meet any resistance. When cooked, turn off the heat and set aside.

Cook the semolina a second time for 20 minutes from the moment the steam escapes. Remember to cover it with a lid.
After this time, spill the semolina into the large dish and add 1 tbsp of smen if you like the taste of smen, and a tbsp of butter. Cover them with the grains of hot couscous and then with a fork, mix quite quickly while separating the grains with a fork. Put this semolina back to cook a third time for about twenty minutes as soon as the steam escapes from the semolina.

At the end of this time spill, the semolina again into the large dish, and separate the grains with the help of a wooden spoon or fork but not long because the semolina must remain hot.
Serve the couscous, hot, first the semolina giving it a slightly conical shape, then drizzle with the broth from the center. Harmoniously arrange the meat, vegetables, and chickpeas and decorate with the Tfaya and some toasted almonds. . It is quite possible, and even recommended in view of the sanitary situation in which we are currently immersed, to serve this couscous in individual plates.