Couscous with Seven Vegetables

Start the broth: put the onions, carrots, turnips, grated tomato, herb bundle, ginger, turmeric, pepper, saffron, olive oil and salt in the base of a couscoussier with the 2 L of water. Bring to a boil.

💡 No couscoussier? A stockpot with a metal steamer or colander that sits snugly on top does the same job. Seal the join with a strip of damp cloth or foil — escaping steam is steam not cooking your grain.

First steaming: tip the dry couscous into a wide bowl, sprinkle over 150 ml water and the vegetable oil, and rub it through with your fingertips for 2 minutes.

💡 Rub, do not stir — you are coating every grain so they cannot glue to each other. This is the whole reason steamed couscous is fluffy and boiled couscous is a lump.

Tip the couscous into the steamer basket, set it over the boiling broth, and steam uncovered 15 minutes from when steam first rises through the grain.

💡 Uncovered, always. A lid drips condensation back onto the grain and undoes everything.

Tip the couscous back into the bowl and break it up with a wooden spoon — it will be steaming hot and clumped.

Second steaming: sprinkle over 200 ml cold water and 1 tsp salt, and rub the grain through your fingers again until every lump is gone.

💡 Cold water on hot grain is what makes the semolina swell in stages instead of all at once. Wait until it is cool enough to handle — rushing this burns your fingers and leaves lumps.

Return it to the steamer and steam another 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the cabbage, pumpkin and courgettes to the broth below — they need the least cooking.

💡 Staggering matters. Everything in at once means dissolved courgettes floating around rock-hard turnip.

Tip the couscous out one last time, break it up, and sprinkle over 150 ml water and the remaining salt. Rub it through again.

Third steaming: 15 minutes more. Taste a grain — it should be tender all the way through with no chalky centre.

💡 Three steamings sounds like superstition. It is not: each one hydrates the grain a little further, and a single long steam gives you couscous that is soft outside and raw in the middle.

Add the chickpeas to the broth and check the vegetables — everything should be tender but still holding its shape.

Fish out the herb bundle and taste the broth for salt. It should taste like a light, fragrant, golden soup.

Tip the couscous onto a big platter and fluff it into a wide mound with your hands or a fork.

💡 Every grain should stand separate and glisten. If it is sticking, you either used instant couscous or skipped an oil-rubbing.

Arrange the vegetables over the top and scatter the chickpeas around.

Ladle broth generously over everything, and put the rest in a jug at the table for people to add more.