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maftoul feature photo

Maftoul (Palestinian Couscous)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Wafa Shami
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Stove
  • Cuisine: Palestinian
  • Diet: Halal

Description

Maftoul, Palestinian Couscous, is a hearty delicious dish with two components. The maftoul itself, you can think of it as a grain. The second component is the flavorful chicken stew filled with chickpeas, onions, and spices served on top of the maftoul.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 bag of maftoul (follow bag instructions, or follow instructions below)
  • 1 chicken cut into 4-6
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (divide in half, for spicing chicken and with cooked maftoul)
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (divide in half, for spicing chicken and with cooked maftoul)
  • 4 -6 cups water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2-3 cardamom pods
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 2-3 sweet onions
  • 1.5 tablespoons butter (half a tablespoon used for sauteing onions)
  • 1-2 teaspoons of sea salt (adjust to taste).

Instructions

Cooking Dried Maftoul

  1. Wash and rinse maftoul.
  2. To provent maftoul from sticking add 1 teaspoon of oil at the bottom of the pot.
  3. Add maftoul and saute for 1 minute.
  4. Pour hot water over maftoul: 1 and ⅓ cups of boiled water per 1 cup of dried maftoul.
  5. Once it starts boiling, lower the heat and cover. 
  6. Let it cook for 10-15 minutes.
  7. Once ready, fluff with a fork, add butter, cinnamon and nutmeg powder and mix well.

Notes

  • Think of maftoul as rice, pour the maftoul topped off with the chicken stew just before serving.
  • You can make maftoul sauce slightly thicker by adding cornstarch. This step can be at the very end. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with ½ cup of cold water (keep in mind that cornstarch won't dissolve if mixed in hot water), whisk well then pour over the chicken stew, and let it cook for another 5-10 minutes.
  • Sauteing the onions before adding them to the chicken and broth gives them an extra flavor, the onions do not need to be fully cooked since they still be cooking with the stew.
  • Use canned chickpeas, and if using dried they should be previously cooked before adding them to the stew.
  • You can make maftoul with lamb instead of chicken.