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Thiéré with vegetable sauce
Millet couscous with vegetable sauce
Cere: Senegal's steamed millet couscous for Tamkharit, here with a meat-free vegetable sauce
On the night of Tamkharit, the Muslim new year, families across Dakar and the Wolof heartland sit down to thiéré: fine millet couscous steamed until light, moistened with a rich sauce and eaten from a shared bowl, while children go door to door in costume afterwards. Most households add lamb or beef; this is the meat-free way, with cabbage, carrot, turnip, sweet potato and chickpeas in a tomato and black pepper broth. The millet is grainy, nutty and soft, the sauce soaks into it, and a whole Scotch bonnet adds perfume rather than burn if left unbroken. The usual mistake is steaming the millet only once, which leaves it gritty; it needs a second steaming after being moistened. Chef's tip: rub the couscous between your palms after the first steaming to break every clump; skipping this is why home thiéré turns heavy and lumpy.
- Total time
- 90 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the couscous
- 1 ⅛ lb gluten-free millet couscous (thiéré/araw)from African shops; or fonio, which needs one short steaming
- 1 cup waterlukewarm, salted with 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp baobab leaf powder (lalo) (optional)optional binder; leave out if you cannot find it
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
For the vegetable sauce
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 onionssliced
- 4 garlic clovescrushed
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 ripe tomatoeschopped
- 5 ½ cups water
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 Scotch bonnet chilliwhole
- 3 carrotscut into 5 cm chunks
- 2 turnipsquartered
- ¼ white cabbagecut into 2 wedges
- 1 sweet potatopeeled, in large chunks
- 14 oz cooked chickpeasdrained (1 tin)
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Put 1 ⅛ lb gluten-free millet couscous (thiéré/araw) in a wide bowl and sprinkle with ½ cup water, rubbing it between your hands so every grain is damp. Leave 10 minutes to swell.
10 minStep 3: Tip back into the bowl, sprinkle with the rest of ½ cup water and 2 tbsp vegetable oil, mix in 1 tbsp baobab leaf powder (lalo) and rub out every lump between your palms. Set aside while you make the sauce.
Step 4: Heat 4 tbsp vegetable oil in a large pot over a medium heat and fry 2 onions until soft and golden, then add 4 garlic cloves for 1 minute.
10 minStep 5: Stir in 3 tbsp tomato paste and fry until it darkens to brick red and the oil turns orange, then add 2 ripe tomatoes and cook until they collapse.
6 minStep 6: Pour in 5 ½ cups water, add 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp ground black pepper, 1 ½ tsp salt and 1 Scotch bonnet chilli and bring to the boil.
5 minStep 7: Add 3 carrots, 2 turnips and ¼ white cabbage and simmer over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Add 1 sweet potato and 14 oz cooked chickpeas and cook until all the vegetables are tender to a knife.
25 minStep 8: While the vegetables finish, steam the couscous a second time until the grains are soft and fluffy, with no hard centre.
15 minStep 9: Pile the couscous in a large shared dish, ladle over enough broth to moisten it well, and arrange the vegetables on top. Lift out the chilli first, or leave it whole on top for those who like heat.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 480 kcal
- Protein
- 14 g
- Carbs
- 82 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Fibre
- 12 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does thiéré with vegetable sauce take?
- About 90 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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