Cous Cous Fridays!

Having Cous Cous on a Friday is an absolutely sacred Algerian tradition! It throws me back to my childhood where the house would be filled with the deep and rich aroma of the gorgeous, vegetable and meat, sauce that we serve over the Cous Cous. It’s such a hearty meal but so healthy; packed with vegetables and lean meat, it's utterly satisfying…almost as much as it is addictive.

A little tale about the origins of why North Africans have Cous Cous on Fridays goes like this: Algerians, and North Africans at large, are heavy consumers of bread (especially baguettes-blame the French). We eat it with almost every dish. Friday is the only day of the week that the baker shuts his store, leaving millions of Algerians with a bread deficit. So we had to cook a dish that didn’t rely on it being eaten with bread. Cous Cous Fridays was born. It is one of the few dishes where the carbs from the cous cous grains itself does not necessitate an accompanying baguette.

Before embarking on this recipe, make sure you purchase some fresh lamb shoulder, as it gives it it’s distinctive flavor, and cooks into a tender delight that melts in the mouth.

Sauce:

1. In a pot, add 3 tbsp of veg/sunflower oil and heat gently. Cut the lamb shoulder into large cubes and add it in and let it cook until the meat is thoroughly cooked and more tender-20-30 minutes on medium heat. (The longer the meat cooks, the more tender it becomes-but be careful not to burn it!)
2. Add 1 finely chopped onion, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp black pepper and 1tsp salt, and 1 cup of water. Mix and leave to cook until onions melt.
3. - Cut the potato into quarters, the courgette in half,  and the carrots in quarters. Add half a handful of chopped cabbage. Add all of the above to the pot, leaving the courgette to last as it cooks the quickest.
4. Add 3 tsp of tomato puree, 1/2 cup of chickpeas and 3/4  of water and let it cook for 30 minutes or until all veg are well cooked.
5. -Add salt to taste.

While the sauce is simmering away, get started on the Cous Cous.

1. Bring a steamer pot to the boil
2. Put the fine cous cous in a large and open container (such as the wooden one I used above-which my lovely mama gifted me)
3. Evenly pour a cap-full of olive/sunflower oil and rub it in using your palms in a circular motion.
4. Using 3/4 cup of water, sprinkle the water over the cous cous a bit at a time. In between each sprinkle, grind the cous cous in between your hands in a circular motion, getting rid of all lumps.
5. When the cous cous has been soaked, grinded, and each grain is separate with no clumps: put cous cous into steamer.
6. Steam for 10 minutes.
7. Then put cous cous into open container again and add salt and sprinkle 1/2 cup of water, again grinding it to get rid of all clumps (if too hot you can use the back of a wooden spoon)
8. Steam again for 10 minutes
9. Once steaming is done, add butter and work it in using wooden spoon, and add a pinch of cinnamon.

VOILA! Bon Appetit!