Nwasser with Chicken

Nwasser with Chicken
نواصر بلدجاج


1 cup vegetable oil
3 hot peppers
salt
1 white onion
1 piece of chicken per person
1 tablespoon coriander
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon turmeric
2 tablespoons harissa arabi
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup tomato puree
4 bay leaves
6 cloves of garlic
1 potato (peeled and quartered)
1 cup chickpeas
1 package of nwasser (500g)
1/4 cup olive oil
water

In the bottom of a couscous pot heat vegetable oil.  

Remove the stems from the hot peppers.  Slice down the side and put a pinch of salt inside each pepper.  Lightly cook the peppers in the oil until the skin in blistered and golden brown.  Remove from the oil.

In a bowl coat chicken with coriander, black pepper, turmeric, harissa, tomato paste and tomato puree.  

Add chicken and all the spicy, saucy goodness to the hot oil.  Throw in the bay leaves and crushed garlic cloves.  Let everything cook for a little while (you want to cook out the raw tomato taste).

Cover with water and wait until it boils.  

Add in chickpeas and potato.  

In a bowl mix nwasser and olive oil until everything is coated.  Dump it in an even layer in the top part of the couscous steamer.  Cover with a lid and let it all go for awhile (15 minutes-ish).  (Keep an eye on the sauce on the bottom, add water as needed so it doesn't dry out.)

When steam starts coming through the nwasser remove from the steamer and put it back in the bowl.  Stir about 6 handfuls of water (1 cup-ish) of water into and return to the steamer over the boiling sauce.

Wait another 15 minutes and check the potatoes to make sure it's cooked thoroughly.

Take about half a cup of the sauce and stir it into the nwasser still in the steamer.  Make sure everything is evenly coated.  Let it go a little while longer over the sauce.

Once everything is cooked and happy together mix in a bit more of the sauce to the nwasser and serve. 

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Nwasser is one of my favorite dishes.  The sauce is very similar to couscous sauce but the nwasser it self is a bit more labor intensive.  The noodles themselves are made from semolina flour which gives the nwasser coarser texture so it won't be as tender as pasta.

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