Palestinian Maftoul (couscous)

Name: Palestinian Maftoul (couscous)
Total time: 110 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Arab
Ingredients: For the broth and chicken:; 1 chicken cut into pieces (about 1.2 kg); 1 onion, halved, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves and 4 cardamom pods; 1½ tsp salt and 8 cups water; For the onion and chickpea stew:; ¼ cup olive oil; 3 large onions, cut into quarters or thick slices; 2 cups cooked chickpeas (a 400 g can, drained, or 1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked and boiled); 1 tsp ground caraway and 1 tsp cumin; 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice and ½ tsp turmeric; 400 g (about 2½ cups) maftoul or large pearl couscous (moghrabieh)

Recipe No.: A-22

Arab110 minServes 6

Maftoul is a festive Palestinian dish. Its name comes from the Arabic verb meaning to roll, because the pearls are made by hand: cracked wheat or bulgur is moistened and rolled repeatedly in whole-wheat flour until it grows into little beads, then steamed and dried. The pearls are larger and nuttier than the fine semolina couscous of North Africa. In the classic preparation the maftoul is steamed over simmering chicken broth and served with soft onions, chickpeas, caraway, cumin and cinnamon, piled on one big platter for sharing.

Ingredients for Palestinian Maftoul

For the broth and chicken
1chicken cut into pieces (about 1.2 kg)
1onion, halved, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves and 4 cardamom pods
1½ tspsalt and 8 cups water
For the onion and chickpea stew
¼ cupolive oil
3large onions, cut into quarters or thick slices
2 cupscooked chickpeas (a 400 g can, drained, or 1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked and boiled)
1 tspground caraway and 1 tsp cumin
1 tspcinnamon, 1 tsp allspice and ½ tsp turmeric
400 g(about 2½ cups) maftoul or large pearl couscous (moghrabieh)

Method

Simmer the chicken with the onion, cinnamon, bay, cardamom and salt in the water, skimming the foam, for 40 minutes until cooked. Remove it, strain the broth and keep it.
Heat the olive oil in a wide pot and cook the onions for 10 minutes until soft and beginning to colour, then add the caraway, cumin, cinnamon, allspice and turmeric and stir for 1 minute.
Add the chickpeas and 4 cups of the broth and simmer 20 minutes until the onions absorb the flavour, then adjust salt.
Rinse the maftoul in cold water and drain. Put it in a sieve or couscoussier over the simmering broth, cover and steam 20 to 25 minutes, fluffing once halfway, or, if you prefer, add it straight to the broth and cook 15 minutes.
Just before serving, reheat the chicken briefly in the broth.
Pile the maftoul onto a large dish and top it with the onion and chickpea stew and then the chicken. Serve hot with the remaining broth in a bowl.

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