Cous cous salad

This recipe has two ways of being done: slow and traditional or rapid and easy, ideal for beginners. For the slow one we are going to cook the chickpeas so they must be put in water the day before, and we are going to do the cous cous of a traditional way, to the steam. For the rapid version we can use a boat of already cooked chickpeas and a package of the "modern" cous cous, which is done in a couple of minutes.
I still have cous cous of our last trip to Morocco so I'm going to use the traditional form. So I'm going to explain you How to do the traditional cous cous. For those who are going to use the other way you only have to follow the instructions of the packet of the cous cous.

Recipe of cous cous salad:
 300gr of Cous cous
 100 gr of Chickpea
 1 Tomato
 1 Onion
 1 Green pepper
 1 Carrot
 6 or 7 dates depending on the size
 Coriander
 Salt
 Olive oil

The chickpeas must be put in water at least one night before and they must be rinsed before cooking them in the pot. Don't use the water that has been used during the night to cook them.

The cous cous is cooked to the steam in one special pot. This one consists of two parts, the top where the cous cous is placed, called Mafaradda and the bottom where the stew is placed, or in our case the chick-peas, called Marga (according to my Arabic friend it means "sauce"). But it is not necessary to have this kind of pot to prepare cous cous, you can use my trick: a high pot, a big colander and a lid. The bad thing is that with the colander I am unable to move the cous cous without throwing it.

Pues bien, colocamos los garbanzo con mucha agua en la parte de abajo y le añadimos una pastilla de caldo concentrado, y colocamos el colador encima. El agua debe quedar un dedo por debajo del colador. Antes de poner el cous cous en el colador debemos mojarlo con agua salada. Para ello ponemos el cous cous en un bol, añadimos un poco de agua con sal y movemos bien. Si vemos que es necesario añadimos más agua hasta que todo este húmedo. En este punto lo ponemos en el colador, tapamos y ponemos el fuego al máximo para que hierva el agua. Tened en cuenta que el cous cous aumentará de tamaño y que por tanto no podemos llenar el colador al máximo.

Lower a bit the fire when the water starts boiling, not too much, the water must continue boiling. Leave it like that during an hour. Every 10-15 minutes move the cous cous, otherwise the bottom part will stick forming balls and the top will not be done. Every time you are doing this, verify that always there is sufficient water and, if it is necessary, add more. An hour the chick-peas must be done but the cous cous will need half an hour more. So extract the chick-peas, drain them and leave them cooling while you continue doing the cous cous.

While clean and peel the vegetable. Cut them and the dates. Puncture a few leaves of coriander (that today I haven't got, sorry). When the cous cous is done leave it get cold. Once It is cold, add the rest of the ingredients and spice them with salt and oil.


 I hope that you like!!! And remember that there is a easy and rapid way to do this recipe, ideal for beginners.

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