Moroccan Couscous with Savoy Cabbage and Chickpeas in a Tagine
Savoy cabbage slowly cooked in a saffron and turmeric sauce until soft and slightly sweet, covering a mound of couscous and chickpeas like a blanket. In Moroccan homes cabbage like this is served alongside the Friday night couscous.
Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium heat.
⚙ Pan-fryingStoveWide, shallow pot
2
Add the onion and fry 5–8 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.
⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
💡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
Add the pepper and fry about 10 minutes, stirring, until it softens.
⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
To assemble
4
Ahead of time, separate 10 large whole leaves from the cabbage, and cut the rest into strips.
KnifeCutting board
5
Cook the whole leaves in boiling salted water 3 minutes, until they are soft and pliable, and drain.
⚙ Cooking in salted waterStovePotColander
💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
6
Add the garlic, turmeric, paprika, ginger, cinnamon, chili pepper and salt and stir.
7
Add the tomatoes and cook 5 minutes.
Stove
8
Add the cabbage, stock, saffron with its soaking water and chickpeas and bring to a boil.
Stove
9
Turn down the heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
⚙ SimmeringStoveLid
💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
10
Lay the whole leaves on top of the stew, cover and cook another 5 minutes, until they take on the color of the sauce.
StoveLid
11
Bring the liquid, oil and salt to a boil and pour it over the couscous.
StoveSmall saucepan
12
Cover 5 minutes and fluff the grains with a fork.
💡Fluff with a fork, not a spoon: a fork separates the grains, and a spoon mashes them into clumps.
13
Serve a mound of couscous, the stew on top and the whole leaves over everything, and pour a few spoonfuls of sauce over the top.
14
Sprinkle the cilantro on top.
720calories
23 gprotein
96 gcarbs
20 gfat
● protein 14%● carbs 58%● fat 28%
Per serving (784 g), of 4 servings
For the Fried onion · To assemble ·
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⚖ About the ingredients
Onion: measured in pieces: one ≈ 117 g · 40 kcal per 100 g · More about Onion →
Stove· 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Portable hot plate (one weaker burner) · Camping gas stove (One burner, outdoors) · Electric pressure cooker (multicooker) (One pot, no real shallow frying)
