1.5 kg of millet flour
500 gr of rice flour
salted water
lalo
2 spoonfuls of water
dates
beans
raisins
prunes
SAUCE
meat
salt
pepper
merguez sausages
concentrated tomato paste
2 ladles of water
onions
green onions
leeks
parsley
thyme
bay leaves
basil
garlic
vegetables
pepper
tomatoes
oil
1.5 l of water
sweet potatoes
pumpkin
sugar
minced meat
dairy butter
Preparation Coucous :
To make 2 kg couscous you need 1.5 kg of millet flour mixed with
500 gr of rice flour. Roll all the flour in a large calabash
while sprinkling with salted water and working it to obtain
grains smaller than pinheads but bigger than grains of sand In
the major capitals this long, fastidious job is today entrusted
to professionals Steam the grains then transfer them into a
calabash and crush them; add the lalo and 2 spoonfuls of water
and mix it all together before steaming the mixture again. When
the steam starts spurting out, take the pan off the heat, crush
the mixture again then add the dates, beans, raisins and prunes.
Cover the pan to retain the heat
Preparation sauce : Wash and drain all the meat then season with
salt and pepper. Take out the merguez sausages. Dilute the
concentrated tomato paste with two ladles of water. Peel, wash
and cut the onions, green onions and leaks into large slices. Put
them in a food mixer along with the parsley, thyme, bay leaves,
basil and garlic ; mix them finely but do not let them turn into
a purée or a paste. Peel, wash and chop the vegetables into
large chunks. Cut the pepper into medium slices ; cut the
tomatoes into quarters. On a medium heat pour the oil into a
large pot. When the oil is hot, fry the merguez for 6 to 10
minutes then take them out and put them on a plate to one side.
Put all the meat into the hot oil and brown it until half-cooked,
turning regularly, then take it out with a draining spoon and
leave to one side. Put the chopped onions and herbs into the pot
and leave to cook for 10 minutes without browning, then add the
diluted tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper then leave to
simmer for fifteen minutes. When the oil starts separating from
the tomato paste, add 1.5 l of water to put an end to this
untimely quarrelling. (Spoon out four measures of this sauce with
a ladle to cook the meatballs in later). When it starts boiling,
add the meat and all the vegetables except the sweet potatoes and
the pumpkin. Cover and simmer for 1 hour when the frothing sound
of cooking is no more than a sigh : Add the sweet potatoes and
the pumpkin and leave to simmer for half an hour. Then lower the
heat. When the sauce has reduced by half (half thick) turn off
the heat, add the merguez and the sugar, stir gently then cover
the pot and leave to stand. Using the minced meat, make mini
meatballs in the classic fashion, but making sure they are very
small, the size of a marble. Plunge them into hot oil but do not
fry them, leave them just long enough to whiten. Then put them
into a pan containing the sauce extracted earlier and leave them
to cook until the sauce has partly reduced. Add the
mini-meatballs and sauce to the couscous along with the dairy
butter if desired. Mix it all together.
To serve : Serve the couscous in two large round enamel dishes
then place the meat, merguez and vegetables in the middle. Gently
pour the sauce over the couscous. Traditionally, when the dish
has been ¾ eaten, fresh milk is poured on it. Thiéré Bassi is
the only dish in Senegal that combines meat and milk, sweet and
savoury. When the dish is empty, the head of the family turns it
over to stop slanderous spirits from seeing its bareness but also
to signify that the year has ended. At this moment the children
dress up and go out into the streets.
Serves 6.
country : Senegal
course : meat dish
source : Donna Polakowski [IRE_Potluck]