Couscous with Camel is a traditional Mauritanian recipe for a classic one-pot stew of camel meat, rice and vegetables in a stock made from oil and tomato puree and which is flavoured with chillies. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Mauritanian version of: Couscous with Camel.
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Camel meat is a Mauritanian speciality and this is a version of the national dish, Chubbagin that employs cubed camel meat (substitute lamb), but which is served on a bed of the local mabroum couscous rather than rice.
In Mauritania, the couscous uses large wheat grains (mabroum) and is darker than the yellow couscous of Morocco. It is cooked with lamb, beef, or camel meat together with vegetables, primarily onion, tomato, and carrots, then mixed with a sauce and served with ghee, locally known as dhen.
Ingredients:
1kg cubed camel meat
2kg mabroum couscous
400ml oil
1 aubergine (eggplant), halved lengthways and cut into chunks
2 carrots, cut into chunks
1 small cabbage, cut into wedges
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 onion, coarsely chopped
8 dried piri-piri chillies (or to taste)
120ml tomato purée
2 garlic cloves
1 smoked and dried fish
60g bissap (hibiscus) leaves, trimmed of stems
Maggi cube
salt and black pepper, to taste
Method:
Traditional couscous takes a long time to cook, so if you substitute Western couscous your cooking time will be cut from 6 hours down to 15 minutes.
Wash the couscous and soak for 30 minutes in a bowl. Drain then set in the steamer of a couscousier. Fill the reservoir, set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cover with a cloth and a tight-fitting lid and cook in the steam for 3 hours. When the couscous has finished steaming, pour into a large bowl. Filtering through a mesh strainer, add just enough stock from the soup to saturate and dampen the couscous. Mix well, then cover with a clean towel and a blanket to preserve the heat. Set aside to steam for 3 hours.
Near the end of the couscous' cooking time prepare your stew. Add the oil to a large pan and when hot use to fry the camel mea until browned on both sides (about 8 minutes). Meanwhile, mix the tomato purée with 200ml water to form a thick paste. Add this to the pan along with the onion and a little salt. Stir to combine thoroughly.
Add all the vegetables then wash and flake the dried fish, removing as many bones as you can. Stir the flaked, dried fish into the pan then add the remaining hot chillies. Tie the bissap leaves into a bundle and add to the stew. Part-cover the pan (about 3/4) then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are crisp-tender.
To serve, add a ladleful of the stock from the vegetable and meat mixture and stir into the couscous. Arrange the couscous on a serving platter or tray, spoon over the vegetables, meat and some of the stock.
Serve immediately, accompanied by the remaining tomato-based sauce.
Give everyone a fork and let them eat the dish. Serve with bissap tea.
