Chef Zohra
Poulet M'hammer aux Amandes (دجاج محمر)
A celebration chicken simmered low in saffron onion sauce, browned until golden, then carried to the table with fried almonds scattered over the top.
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Tagine de Légumes
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A meatless vegetable tagine where carrots, turnips, zucchini, pumpkin, cabbage, and chickpeas settle into saffron broth, then meet couscous steamed in passes, the grain loose enough to pour.
Main Dishes
Moroccan
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
35 min
Active Time
1 hr 35 min cook•2 hr 10 min total
Yield6 servings
Idon't ask this tagine to be the same in January and July. The market would laugh at me. In cold months, carrots, turnips, potatoes, and pumpkin carry the pot; when the stalls turn green, zucchini comes in softer and later. The number seven is a blessing and a rhythm, not a police officer with a notebook.
Get the vegetables honest first. No gesture rescues a tired turnip or powdered yellow pretending to be saffron. Bloom real saffron threads, use preserved lemon for its salt and perfume, and let the ras el hanout be small but true, from a merchant who'll tell you what is in it. Avec le ras el hanout, on ne triche pas, with ras el hanout, you don't cheat.
Build the tagine like a little mountain: onions and tomatoes below, firm vegetables closest to the broth, tender zucchini and pumpkin higher where they soften without drowning. If you're serving couscous, steam the grain in passes over the broth. Never boil it. Boil it and you make porridge, steam it and every grain keeps its dignity.
This is weeknight food in my house, but it feeds like welcome. Put the couscous in the middle, spoon the vegetables over it, tear the khobz anyway, and leave room for one more person. Une table, c'est une porte qu'on laisse ouverte, a table is a door you leave open.
Vegetable tagines sit inside the older earthenware cooking of Amazigh regions of the Atlas, Souss, and the eastern frontier, where a low fire and a conical lid make market vegetables tender with little liquid. Couscous is documented in the western Islamic world by the 13th century, during the Almohad and early Marinid periods, while saffron, ginger, and cinnamon moved through Saharan and Mediterranean trade into Moroccan city and village kitchens. The fixed name 'seven vegetables' is later and regional, especially tied to Friday couscous, but the exact list has always been argued by season and place.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
medium-grain couscous
Quantity
500g
not instant
olive oil
Quantity
4 tbsp
divided
saffron threads
Quantity
1 large pinch
bloomed in 3 tbsp warm water
onions
Quantity
2
finely sliced
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
2
grated, or use 200g canned crushed tomatoes when tomatoes are dull
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
finely grated
ground ginger
Quantity
1 tsp
real ras el hanout
Quantity
1 tsp
ground turmeric
Quantity
1/2 tsp
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 tsp
sea salt
Quantity
1 1/2 tsp, plus more to taste
coriander and parsley
Quantity
1 small bunch
tied with kitchen string
cooked chickpeas
Quantity
250g
drained
carrots
Quantity
2
peeled and halved lengthwise
small turnips
Quantity
2
peeled and cut into wedges
medium potatoes
Quantity
2
peeled and cut into wedges
green cabbage
Quantity
1/4 small head
cut into 6 wedges
pumpkin or butternut squash
Quantity
300g
cut into thick wedges
small zucchini
Quantity
2
halved lengthwise
preserved lemon
Quantity
1/2
pulp removed and rind cut into strips
water or light vegetable broth
Quantity
1.2L, plus more as needed
chopped coriander and parsley (optional)
Quantity
2 tbsp
for finishing
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| medium-grain couscousnot instant | 500g |
| olive oildivided | 4 tbsp |
| saffron threadsbloomed in 3 tbsp warm water | 1 large pinch |
| onionsfinely sliced | 2 |
| ripe tomatoesgrated, or use 200g canned crushed tomatoes when tomatoes are dull | 2 |
| garlic clovesfinely grated | 3 |
| ground ginger | 1 tsp |
| real ras el hanout | 1 tsp |
| ground turmeric | 1/2 tsp |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 tsp |
| sea salt | 1 1/2 tsp, plus more to taste |
| coriander and parsleytied with kitchen string | 1 small bunch |
| cooked chickpeasdrained | 250g |
| carrotspeeled and halved lengthwise | 2 |
| small turnipspeeled and cut into wedges | 2 |
| medium potatoespeeled and cut into wedges | 2 |
| green cabbagecut into 6 wedges | 1/4 small head |
| pumpkin or butternut squashcut into thick wedges | 300g |
| small zucchinihalved lengthwise | 2 |
| preserved lemonpulp removed and rind cut into strips | 1/2 |
| water or light vegetable broth | 1.2L, plus more as needed |
| chopped coriander and parsley (optional)for finishing | 2 tbsp |
Equipment Needed
- •Couscoussier or large pot with snug steamer insert
- •Wide gsaa or large shallow bowl for working couscous
- •Wide clay tagine or communal platter, about 30 cm
Instructions
- 1
Bloom the saffron
Put the saffron threads in 3 tablespoons warm water and let them stain the water deep gold while you cut the vegetables. Keep the firm vegetables in one pile and the tender zucchini and pumpkin in another, because they do not need the same time in the pot.
- 2
Build the broth
Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom of a couscoussier or a large pot with a snug steamer insert. Add the onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, ras el hanout, turmeric, black pepper, and salt. Cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often, until the onions soften and the tomato darkens a little at the edge of the spoon.
- 3
Start the vegetables
Add the bloomed saffron with its water, the herb bundle, chickpeas, carrots, turnips, potatoes, cabbage, and 1.2L water or light vegetable broth. Bring to a steady simmer, then lower the heat and cook for about 25 minutes, until the roots begin to give when pierced but still hold their shape.
If the broth drops below the vegetables, add a little hot water. This dish wants enough broth to perfume the couscous, not a dry pot. - 4
Wet the couscous
Pour the couscous into a wide bowl. Sprinkle over 250ml cool water a little at a time, raking with your fingers so every grain drinks but none sits in a puddle. Work in 1 tablespoon olive oil and a small pinch of salt, then let it rest for 10 minutes. La balance est dans les yeux, the scale is in the eyes: the grains should feel damp and separate, not heavy.
- 5
First steam
Pile the couscous loosely into the steamer top and set it over the simmering vegetable broth. Wrap a damp cloth around the seam where the two pots meet. That cloth matters: it traps the steam, and steam is the only thing cooking the grain. Cook for 20 minutes from the moment the grain feels hot all the way through.
Do not pack the couscous down. Let it sit loose, like sand, so it can swell evenly. - 6
Work the grain
Turn the couscous back into the wide bowl. Break up the clumps with a fork first, then with your fingers when it is cool enough to touch. Sprinkle in 150ml cool water and 1 tablespoon olive oil, rubbing gently until the grains separate again. Add the pumpkin or squash to the broth below and return the pot to a quiet simmer.
- 7
Second steam
Return the couscous to the steamer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the zucchini and preserved lemon strips to the broth for the final 12 to 15 minutes, tucking them near the top so they soften without collapsing. Taste the broth and correct the salt; preserved lemon brings salt of its own.
- 8
Finish and serve
Taste the couscous. If it still feels chalky at the center, give it a third pass of 10 minutes. Otherwise, turn it into the bowl, rub through the last tablespoon of olive oil, and fluff until it pours in loose grains. Mound the couscous on a wide platter, ladle saffron broth over it, and arrange the vegetables in a cone with chickpeas scattered through. Spoon more broth around the base, finish with chopped coriander and parsley, and serve extra broth at the table.
Couscous is not a neutral side. It is the mountain the meal is built on, and the vegetables crown it.
Chef Tips
- •Use the seven vegetables the market gives you. In winter, lean on carrots, turnips, potatoes, cabbage, and pumpkin. In warmer months, let zucchini and fresh tomatoes speak more loudly.
- •Buy ras el hanout from someone who'll tell you what is in it. A tired pre-ground tin will flatten the broth, and with ras el hanout, you don't cheat.
- •Use preserved lemon, not fresh lemon juice. The preserved rind brings salt, bitterness, and perfume at once; fresh lemon only brings acid.
- •Bloom saffron threads in warm water before they enter the pot. The powdered yellow sold as saffron is not saffron, and it has no place here.
- •There isn't one vegetable list for all Morocco. Il n'y a pas une cuisine marocaine, mais des cuisines marocaines, not one Moroccan cuisine, but many, and the pot changes from Oujda to Fez to the Atlas.
Advance Preparation
- •Cook the chickpeas up to 3 days ahead and keep them covered in their cooking liquid in the refrigerator.
- •Cut the carrots, turnips, cabbage, and potatoes the morning of cooking and keep them covered with a damp cloth. Cut zucchini and pumpkin closer to cooking so they keep their texture.
- •The vegetable broth can be made a day ahead through the firm vegetables. Reheat gently, then add pumpkin, zucchini, preserved lemon, and freshly steamed couscous before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 670g)
Calories
590 calories
Total Fat
11 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1050 mg
Total Carbohydrates
105 g
Dietary Fiber
14 g
Sugars
10 g
Protein
18 g
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