Lebanese Couscous

...also known as moghrabieh, mughrabia or maghrebiyya. It's a new food for me, although I have tried it before - the small balls swells up to the size of miniature peas. Apparently this is quite different from Israeli couscous, which, whilst still larger than regular couscous, is nowhere as large as the moghrabieh. There's more info here.

Here's a photo of the bag I bought:



Any tips on what to do with it?

I also picked up a sheet of apricot paste, also known as qamar el-deen or ameerdine. Has anybody used this before?

Thanks, Celia

I use the Israeli couscous and love to use it as a salad ingredient. I cook it in the morning, cool, then add seasonal produce. This time of year it is fresh cherry toms, red and yellow, cucumber, basil, green onion, Israeli feta (a brand called Pastures of Eden, is truly awesome) and a lemon vinaigrette. In winter, I've added butternut squash, lemon zest, mushrooms and a complimentary vinaigrette. I'm trying to find the Fregola Sarda Couscous online but shipping is costing more than the product....crazy!

I love the texture on these thicker types of couscous.

[Jenise]

I love the texture on these thicker types of couscous.

I do, too!


Mentioning pea-size and cold salads as Karen did, I can see mixing the cooked couscous with frozen peas and shrimp and tossing in a tarragon vinaigrette. Would be a fab cold salad on a warm day.

A point of order:

What is sometimes referred to as "Israeli couscous" is a distinct misnomer. The couscous favored in Israel is ot at all Israeli but is in fact the same couscous favored in the Maghreb nations of Tunisia, Libya and Morocco and indeed is a small grain semolina couscous. The grains shown in the photo above seem almost the size of chickpeas (one of the traditional accompaniments to couscous of course) but would be scorned by most Israelis as well as by most of the better couscous restaurants in the Magreb and in either Paris or Marseilles.

Best
Rogov

I answered in Rogov's Culinary Forum, here's a copy of my post:

The moghrabieh is larger but also thicker and starchier than Israeli couscous. Years ago, my mother used to make for Shabat lunch a dish with braised moghrabieh and chicken thighs and legs. She added whole chick peas and the usual Lebanese spices (allspice, cloves and cinnamon) and cooked it in the oven for hours on low heat. Sort of a Lebanese Cholent

I tried to replicate it last year when I found some moghrabieh in an Armenian market in Westchester, but even after asking my mother, I messed up the recipe and the dish came out too starchy. I will use plenty of liquid next time - stock and water.

BTW, it is larger than fregola and what is here called Israeli couscous, but smaller than chick peas. It does not have at all the taste of Israeli couscous.

Thanks Jacques. I replied on Rogov's board as well, saying that the two suggestions I'd found online were to fry the couscous first and secondly to cook it for a long time "until it was no longer gluggy". I can't see how the latter would work, but I'll give it a go.

Rogov, isn't that funny. I wonder where the name Israeli couscous came from? I bought some of that too - it is indeed smaller than the moghrabieh, but still larger than normal couscous.

Celia, I will call my mother again tomorrow and ask her how long one is supposed to cook it. I will have an answer for you tomorrow afternoon. I fried mine and didn't like the results but I may have taken a wrong step in there somewhere.

Jacques, thank you! I'll hold off cooking them until I hear from you.

Celia

It seems that the trick is to cook the grains in water (like you'd cook pasta) for ten or so minutes, and then cook them again. No oven cooking was involved. Here are my mothers recipes:

Moghrabie with chicken:

* Boil water and add moghrabie, cook for ten minutes, drain water.
* In a small saucepan saute onion in vegetable oil, add 1/2 can of chick peas, cinnamon, allspice and ground cloves, salt and pepper. Add water or chicken stock, thicken a little with cornstarch diluted in water, this is your sauce and it should be fairly liquid (slightly thicket than a jus).
* Saute onion in vegetable oil in another pan, add a chicken cut in 8 pieces (2 thighs, 2 breasts, 2 wings, 2 legs), salt & pepper, water, cover until cooked about 30 minutes.
* Build the dish: In a lightly oiled dutch oven, add a layer of the cooked moghrabie and a layer of chicken, another layer of moghrabie etc.. add chicken stock or water to keep it moistened.
* Cook on low heat for 30-45 minutes.
* Serve on a platter, cover with the sauce.

Moghrabie with cheese:

* Boil water and add moghrabie, cook for ten minutes, drain water.
* In a large pan, saute onion in butter
* Add the cooked moghrabie to the pan with 2-3 tablespoons of butter and slices of white melting cheese (the best is a Syrian cheese but I think Monterey Jack or a lightly salted Mozzarella will work)
* Cook on low heat for 30-45 minutes.
* You can add Parmesan and finish it in the broiler for three minutes.

I know what I'm making this weekend

Jacques, THANK YOU! That helps enormously. It makes sense, I guess, because if you boil the couscous first, that will get rid of a lot of the excess starch. That chicken dish looks very tempting - I'll try it and let you know how I go.

Thanks again for going to all that trouble...

Celia

Here's tonight's dinner with moghrabieh. I took Mrs Levy's advice and boiled the couscous for 20 minutes first, drained it, then added it to half a cup of basmati rice. This was placed in the bottom of a presoaked Romertopf and topped with chicken, onion and chick peas which had been marinated in a yoghurt curry mix. The moghrabieh cooked perfectly. Surprisingly, after 20 minutes of boiling, the balls were barely cooked, which meant that even after an hour and a half in the oven, they were still firm and chewy (but definitely cooked through).

Jacques, thank you, you've saved me a lot of disappointment - I would normally have just thrown the whole lot together without precooking first!

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