How to Make Moroccan Couscous?

Ingredients

• Chicken with bones
• Aromatics for boiling the chicken
• 1 kilo ready maghrebiya grains
• 1 kilo small dry onions
• 2 tablespoons Moroccan spice mix
• or
• 1 teaspoon finely ground caraway
• +
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon ghee or butter
• 3 cups cooked chickpeas
• At serving, pour the maghrebiya grains onto the plate and alongside or on top place a portion of the chicken, onion, and chickpea mixture.

Method

1. Wash the chicken well and rub it with lemon, salt, and vinegar. Boil the chicken, and once it comes to a boil, remove the white foam, or you can change the water and add fresh water. Add the chicken poaching spices: nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, cloves, and a small piece of dry onion.
2. Leave the chicken over low heat until fully cooked.
3. Meanwhile, peel the onions, wash them, and place them in a bowl of cold water. Wash the onions well and leave them soaked in water and salt for half an hour, then wash them again.
4. Place a pot on the heat with water and salt. When the water comes to a boil, add the onions and let them simmer over low heat for about 3 minutes only. Transfer the onions to a colander, rinse them again with hot water, and set them aside.
   Timers: 3 min
5. Strain the chicken cooking liquid and pour it into a large pot. Add the onions to the chicken broth, along with the cooked chickpeas. Leave them for about half an hour over low heat.
6. Remove the bones from the cooked chicken and add the chicken pieces to the chickpea and onion mixture with salt and Moroccan spice mix. If you do not have the special Moroccan spice blend, you can substitute it with 1 tablespoon caraway and 1 tablespoon finely ground cinnamon.
7. In another pot, bring water to a boil and add the ready-to-cook Moroccan couscous grains. Let them boil with the water for 3 minutes.
   Timers: 3 min
8. Pour the couscous grains into a heatproof metal colander, add 1 tablespoon Moroccan spice mix and 1 tablespoon smen on top, then place the colander full of couscous over the pot of Moroccan chicken, onion, and chickpea mixture. It will look like a two-tier pot: chicken, onions, and chickpeas on the bottom, and couscous grains on top.
9. The couscous grains will finish cooking from the steam rising from the chicken and onions.
10. Leave the mixture over low heat until all the ingredients are cooked through.
11. To serve, spoon the couscous onto a plate and place some of the chicken, onion, and chickpea mixture beside it or on top.