Couscous with fish and vegetables in a red broth

pareve fish Tunisian Jewish · regular · 85 min, including 40 hands-on

The Friday couscous of Tunisian Jewish homes: grains rubbed with oil and steamed twice over a red broth of tomato purée, caraway, coriander and harissa, with garlic-and-cumin-rubbed grouper steaks, carrots, turnips, potatoes, courgettes and chickpeas.

Ingredients for two

Method

1. Pat the fish steaks dry with kitchen paper and rub both sides with 1 crushed garlic clove, 1/2 tsp cumin, 2 g salt and 1 tsp oil taken from the 6 tbsp. Return to the fridge on a plate while you prepare everything else, for at least 30 minutes. Peel the carrots and turnips, leaving the carrots whole (halve large ones lengthways) and halving the turnips. Peel and halve the potatoes. Cut the unpeeled courgettes into 5 cm pieces. Finely chop the onion, crush the remaining 4 garlic cloves in a garlic press, and drain and rinse the chickpeas. Heat 1.5 litres water in a kettle.
2. Tip the couscous into a large, deep serving dish, drizzle with 1 tbsp oil and rub between your palms for 1 minute to coat every grain. Dissolve 3 g salt (1/2 tsp) in 200 g cold water. Sprinkle half (100 g) over the couscous and rub for another minute: the grains should be damp and free of lumps, rather than wet. Reserve the remaining 100 g for step 5.
3. Heat 4 tbsp oil over a medium heat in the base of a couscoussier, or a 24 cm stockpot. Cook the onion for 5 minutes, stirring until translucent, then add the garlic for 1 minute. Add the tomato purée, 20 g harissa, paprika, caraway, coriander, remaining cumin (1 tsp) and pepper. Stir for 2 minutes until the paste darkens, glistens and smells fragrant: this gives the broth its colour and depth.
4. Pour in the hot water and add 8 g salt, the carrots, turnips and celery. Bring to the boil. Set the steamer basket on top, add the couscous loosely and leave uncovered. If steam escapes around the join, wrap a wet tea towel around it. Maintain a steady, vigorous boil over a medium-high heat throughout steaming: a gentle simmer will not drive steam through the grains. Once steam rises through the couscous, after about 5 minutes, cover and steam for 20 minutes without reducing the heat.
5. Tip the couscous back into the dish, sprinkle over the remaining 100 g salted water and fluff with a fork, then with your fingertips as soon as it is cool enough to handle. Break up every lump as the grains swell and separate. Taste a pinch: it should be lightly salted, as the broth will provide the rest. Meanwhile, add the courgettes, halved potatoes and chickpeas to the broth. The vegetables should be just covered; top up with boiling water if needed. Taste the broth: it should be well seasoned and distinctly spicy, so add harissa or salt now if needed. Take the fish out of the fridge.
6. Return the couscous to the steamer basket for a second 20-minute steaming, timing from when steam rises through it again and keeping the broth at a vigorous boil. Halfway through, after 10 minutes, set the basket on a large plate and remove the tea towel from the join. Using a spatula, lower the fish steaks flat into the broth, moving the vegetables aside so the fish is submerged. Immediately replace the basket and tea towel. Cook the fish beneath the couscous in the boiling broth for 10 minutes. Do not lower the heat while the basket is in place, as the couscous needs the steam; grouper can withstand this heat, though you can lower it one notch if the broth boils too fiercely. The flesh should turn opaque and come away from the central bone when pressed. If it is not quite ready, remove the basket, cover the pot and cook for another 2 minutes.
7. Tip the couscous into the dish, add the final spoonful of oil and 2 ladlefuls of broth (about 200 g), and fluff with a fork. Cover with a tea towel and rest for 3 minutes: the grains should be tender, glossy and separate.
8. Serve in deep plates, with a mound of couscous, half the vegetables (carrot, turnip, potato and courgettes) and chickpeas around it, and a fish steak on top. Pour over 2 ladlefuls of broth (about 200 g). Put the remaining broth in a bowl in the centre of the table, with the remaining harissa and lemon wedges, to add as you eat.

On your plate

Cooking tips

Dried chickpeas give a better result: soak 100 g overnight for 12 hours with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, then cook them on their own in the broth for 25 minutes before adding the carrots, turnips and celery and setting the couscous above them. Allow 110 minutes overall. If the broth drops below the vegetables during steaming, add 200 g boiling water. Sea bream steaks need only 8 minutes. For the full Tunisian touch, char 1 whole long green chilli per person in a dry pan or over a flame for 6–8 minutes, turning until the skin blisters; season with salt and lay on the couscous. Without a couscoussier, use a metal colander fitted over the stockpot: the grains cook in the same way. An electric steamer also works, though the grains will miss the fragrance of the broth. The next day, reheat the broth and vegetables over the remaining couscous for lunch; eat the cold fish with lemon. In winter, add 200 g pumpkin in large cubes with the courgettes.

Equipment : couscoussier, or a 24 cm stockpot with a fitted metal colander, or a steamer, large deep dish, garlic press, clean tea towel, kettle, ladle, large plate for resting the steamer basket, 18 cm saucepan with a lid (for the fish-free variation)

Friday-night couscous from the Jewish community of Tunis (couscous bil hout): red broth, fish steaks rubbed with garlic and cumin, whole vegetables and twice-steamed couscous.