AI-generated image
Couscous royal
Couscous with lamb, chicken and sausage
The festive North African couscous with lamb, chicken and merguez
Couscous royal is the big-occasion couscous that Algerian and Moroccan families brought to France and that is now served for weddings and Sunday gatherings from Oran to Marseille: a pot of lamb and chicken simmered with vegetables and chickpeas in a mildly spiced broth, grilled merguez on the side, and a mountain of steamed couscous. The mistake is putting all the vegetables in at once; the courgettes go mushy while the turnips are still hard, so add them in stages. Chef's tip: brown the lamb and chicken well before the water goes in; that colour flavours the whole broth.
- Total time
- 160 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the broth
- 1 ¾ lb lamb shoulder or neckin large pieces, on the bone if possible
- 8 chicken thighsbone in, skin removed
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onionschopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp ras el hanout
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 10 ½ cups water
- 14 oz cooked chickpeas1 tin, drained
Vegetables
- 4 carrotshalved
- 3 small turnipshalved
- 3 courgettescut into 6 cm lengths
- 10 ½ oz pumpkinin chunks
Couscous and merguez
- 1 ⅓ lb medium couscous
- 1 ⅜ oz butter or olive oiluse oil to keep it dairy free
- 1 ⅓ lb merguez sausages
- 2 tbsp harissato serve
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Heat 4 tbsp olive oil in a large pot or couscoussier base. Brown 1 ¾ lb lamb shoulder or neck in batches for 8 minutes, then brown 8 chicken thighs for 5 minutes. Set the chicken aside.
15 minStep 2: Add 2 onions to the lamb and cook for 6 minutes, then stir in 2 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp ras el hanout, 1 tsp paprika, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 ⅞ tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper.
8 minStep 3: Pour in 10 ½ cups water, bring to the boil and skim. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
45 minStep 4: Add the chicken back with 4 carrots and 3 small turnips and simmer for 25 minutes.
25 minStep 5: Meanwhile put 1 ⅓ lb medium couscous in a wide bowl with the rest of ⅝ tsp salt, sprinkle over 300 ml water and rub between your palms. Leave 10 minutes, then steam over the broth for 20 minutes. Tip out, break up the grains, sprinkle with 150 ml water and steam for 15 minutes more.
35 minStep 6: Add 3 courgettes, 10 ½ oz pumpkin and 14 oz cooked chickpeas to the broth for the last 15 minutes. The chicken must reach 165°F and the lamb should be tender when pierced.
15 minStep 7: While the vegetables cook, grill or pan-fry 1 ⅓ lb merguez sausages for 8–10 minutes, turning, until browned and cooked through to 160°F.
10 minStep 8: Rub 1 ⅜ oz butter or olive oil into the hot couscous. Pile it in a large dish, ladle over some broth and arrange the meats and vegetables. Serve the rest of the broth in a bowl, with 2 tbsp harissa stirred into a ladle of it for those who like it hot. Chill leftovers within 2 hours and keep 2 days.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 780 kcal
- Protein
- 52 g
- Carbs
- 70 g
- Fat
- 32 g
- Fibre
- 8 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does couscous royal take?
- About 160 minutes in total: 40 minutes to prepare and 120 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of paprika?
- Smoked paprika, half the amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Pork souvlaki
This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.
Greek
Pfälzer SaumagenStuffed pig's stomach
Saumagen is the pride of the Palatinate, served at wine-village festivals and family dinners from the Haardt hills to Ludwigshafen. A cleaned pig's stomach is stuffed with diced pork shoulder, pork sausage meat, potato and carrot seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg, poached slowly, then sliced thick and fried until crusty. The stomach works only as a casing and is ordered from a butcher; if you can't get one, bake the same filling in a covered terrine in a water bath. Serve with sauerkraut and mashed potato. Chef's tip: fill the stomach only three-quarters full, or it bursts as the potatoes swell.
German
Chha goshtLamb in buttermilk gravy
Up in the hill villages of Himachal Pradesh, where flocks are walked to summer pastures, lamb is often cooked in chhaachh, the thin buttermilk left after churning butter. Thickened with a spoonful of gram flour, it makes a pale, gently sour gravy that is milder and lighter than the red curries of the plains, and it is a favourite at dhams, the festive meals of the Kangra and Chamba valleys. Serve it with steamed rice or makki ki roti. Chef's tip: whisk the gram flour into the buttermilk until there are no lumps before it goes near the pot; once it hits the heat, any lumps stay lumps.
Indian