Moroccan couscous with tfaya (caramelized onions and raisins)
Fluffy couscous crowned with tfaya, sweet and savory onions slowly caramelized with cinnamon, honey and raisins, plus toasted almonds and cool yogurt.
- 55 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.76 a serving
- 660 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 yellow onions, thinly sliced
- ½ cup raisins
- 2 tbsp honey
- ½ cup almonds, chopped
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1½ cups couscous
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ cup water
Each serving has about 660 calories, 21 g protein, 95 g carbs and 23 g fat, and costs about $2.76 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No raisins? Dried cranberries work.
- No honey? Maple syrup works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No plain Greek yogurt? Plain yogurt or sour cream works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil and butter in a large over medium heat. Add the onions and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring now and then, 10 minutes, until soft.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 10 min
Stir in the cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and pepper, turn the heat to low and cook 15 minutes more, stirring often, until deep and jammy.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: Low and slow is the secret. Rushing the onions on high heat burns them before they turn sweet.Add the raisins, honey and water and 8 to 10 minutes, until the liquid turns sticky and syrupy.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 9 min
Meanwhile, toast the almonds in a dry over medium heat, stirring, 3 minutes, until . Tip them onto a plate.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Bring the broth and the rest of the salt in the same over high heat. Stir in the couscous, cover, take it off the heat and leave it 5 minutes.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heatTimer: 5 min
Fluff the couscous with a fork and pile it on a platter.
Spoon the tfaya over and scatter the almonds and cilantro on top.
Serve with the yogurt.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
