Maftoul - Palestinian Couscous with Chicken and Chickpeas with homemade cooked chickpeas and homemade chicken stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade cooked chickpeas ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water.

   Bowl

   💡Soak in plenty of water, well above what's being soaked: legumes and grains swell and drink water, and whatever sticks out stays hard. Drain well before continuing.
2. 2
   Drain, cover with plenty of unsalted water and cook 1.5–2 hours, skimming off the foam and skins from time to time, until the chickpeas are very soft and crush easily between your fingers.

   ColanderStovePot

   💡Fully cooked chickpeas crush between your fingers with no resistance at all. Chickpeas that stay a little firm make a grainy spread, and no amount of tahini will fix it.
3. 3
   Drain, reserving a cup of the cooking liquid.

   Colander

For the homemade chicken stock ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 4
   Put the chicken, the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises during the first 15 minutes with a spoon.

   StovePot
2. 5
   Turn down and simmer gently 2.5–3 hours.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 6
   Strain the stock.

   Colander

For the Meat Browned in the Rice Pot

1. 7
   Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.

   StoveLarge pot
2. 8
   Add the onion and fry about 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 9
   Add the garlic and fry 1 more minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   Stove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
4. 10
   Add the chicken drumsticks and brown on all sides, 5 minutes.

   Stove
5. 11
   Add the tomatoes, turmeric, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, salt and black pepper, stir and cook 5 minutes.

   Stove
6. 12
   Add the water and bring to a boil. Turn down to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes, until the chicken drumsticks soften.

   StoveLid
7. 13
   Remove the chicken drumsticks from the pot, pull the meat off the bones and return it to the pot.

   Slotted spoon

To assemble

1. 14
   Add the pearl couscous and the beans to the stock in the pot, bring to a boil and stir once.

   Stove
2. 15
   Turn down to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes without opening the lid, until the liquid is absorbed.

   StoveLid
3. 16
   Turn off the heat and leave covered 5–10 minutes.

   💡Don't open the lid during cooking: the steam is what cooks the top layer. A towel between the pot and the lid absorbs the drips, so the rice doesn't get soggy.
4. 17
   Gently stir in the parsley.
5. 18
   Gently fluff with a fork and serve.