Couscous with beef meatballs in red broth

meat Tunisian Jewish · regular · 100 min, including 45 hands-on

The Friday-night couscous of the Jews of Tunis: soft, bread-enriched meatballs, fried then poached in the red marka beneath the couscous, with meltingly tender whole vegetables and fluffy grains steamed twice.

Ingredients for two

Method

1. Chop the 80 g onion for the broth and crush the 3 garlic cloves (2 for the broth, reserving 1 for the meatball mixture). Peel the carrots, leaving them whole or halving them lengthways if large; peel and halve the turnip and potatoes. Cut the unpeeled courgette into 5 cm lengths. Heat 1.2 litres water in the kettle. In the large dish, rub the couscous with 10 g oil between your palms for 1 minute. Dissolve 3 g salt in 200 g cold water, sprinkle half (100 g) over the grains and rub for another minute: they should be damp and free of lumps, not wet. Reserve the remaining 100 g salted water.
2. Soften the onion in 30 g oil in the base of the couscoussier over a medium heat for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the tomato purée, 20 g harissa, paprika, coriander and caraway. Stir for 2 minutes: the paste darkens to deep red and the oil becomes glossy, giving the broth its colour and depth. Pour in the 1.2 litres hot water, add the carrots, turnip and 8 g salt, and bring to the boil.
3. Tip the couscous loosely into the steamer basket, without packing it down, and fit it over the pot, uncovered. If steam escapes from the join, seal it with a damp tea towel rolled into a rope (or a strip of flour-and-water dough): all the steam must pass through the grains. Maintain a steady, vigorous boil. Once steam rises through the couscous (about 5 minutes), cover and steam for 20 minutes without reducing the heat.
4. During this first steaming, soak the bread in 50 g water for 3 minutes, then gently squeeze the crumb. Grate and squeeze the remaining 40 g onion. Mix the beef, bread crumb, grated onion, egg, finely chopped parsley (and mint), reserved crushed garlic clove, tabil, 6 g harissa, cinnamon, pepper and 4 g salt just enough to bind, without kneading. Check the seasoning: fry a hazelnut-sized piece for 1 minute and adjust the salt before shaping. Form 8 slightly oval meatballs weighing about 60 g each, without compacting them; roll in the 15 g flour and tap off the excess.
5. Heat the remaining 20 g oil in the 24 cm non-stick sauté pan over a medium heat. Brown the meatballs on three sides for 6 minutes, turning them only when the crust releases naturally from the pan. A thin golden crust should form while the centres remain raw. If they seem fragile, give them another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave them in the pan.
6. After the first steaming, turn the couscous out into the large dish. Sprinkle with the remaining 100 g salted water, fluff with a fork, then with your fingertips as soon as it is cool enough to touch, and leave to swell for 5 minutes. Add the courgette, potato halves and drained, rinsed chickpeas to the pot; the vegetables should be just covered, so top up with boiling water if needed. Taste the broth: it should be distinctly red, spicy and as salty as a soup broth. Adjust the salt or harissa now. Using a spatula, place the 8 meatballs on the vegetables without stirring.
7. Return the couscous to its basket and set it back over the pot with the tea towel seal. Steam for a second time for 20–25 minutes from the moment steam passes through the grains, keeping a steady boil (reduce the heat one setting if the broth is bubbling too fiercely, but never below a lively simmer). The meatballs cook undisturbed in the marka beneath the couscous. They are ready when firm to the touch and, when one is halved, no pink juice runs out and it is grey all the way to the centre. Otherwise, remove the basket, cover the pot and cook for another 3 minutes.
8. Remove the basket and check the vegetables: a knife should slide easily into the turnip, carrot and potato. Tip the couscous into the dish, separate the grains, sprinkle with 100 g broth from the pot and cover for 3 minutes. The grains should be plump, tender and separate. If still firm, add another 30 g broth and wait 2 minutes.
9. Divide the couscous and vegetables between two shallow bowls, add 4 meatballs per person and pour over 2 ladlefuls (about 200 g) of broth. Serve the remaining broth separately in a bowl, with the remaining harissa and lemon wedges, so everyone can moisten their couscous a little at a time.

On your plate

Cooking tips

Make the meatball mixture a few hours ahead and keep it refrigerated; do not knead it or the meatballs will be tough. Dried chickpeas are better: soak 100 g for 12 hours the day before, then cook them alone in the broth for 25 minutes before adding the carrots and turnip and setting the couscous above (allow 125 minutes in total). For the full Tunisian touch, grill 1 long green chilli per person, whole, in a dry frying pan or over a flame for 6–8 minutes until the skin blisters; salt and lay on the couscous, with lemon wedges on the table. In winter, add 200 g pumpkin in large cubes with the courgette. If the broth drops below the vegetables during either steaming, add 200 g boiling water. For Saturday, cook the broth, vegetables and meatballs the day before, cool quickly and reheat to a simmer; keep the couscous separate so it does not absorb all the broth.

Equipment : couscoussier, clean tea towel, kettle or 2-litre saucepan, 24 cm non-stick sauté pan (for browning the meatballs), large deep serving dish, grater, ladle, small frying pan (to check the meatball seasoning)

The Friday-night couscous of the Jews of Tunis, with bread-enriched meatballs fried then poached in the marka; mint and cinnamon vary from family to family.