Moroccan Inspired Millet… think couscous and tagines 🙂
Morocco if you have ever visited, is a place full of intrigue, of sights, sounds, smells and colour 🙂 . What seems like an eternity ago, I travelled fairly extensively in Morocco from Sidi Ifni in the South, through the Atlas Mountains, to the now touristy areas of Casablanca, Marrakesh, Rabat, Meknes and Essaouira and everywhere in-between! Staying off the beaten track in little more than shacks with outdoor toilets, visiting local markets, bartering in souks, learning snippets of Arabic and of course, sampling the wonderful North African cuisine 🙂 . When I travelled wherever I was, be it a city, a village, or the middle of nowhere, the food everywhere was steaming hot tagines filled with an abundance of vegetables piled onto mounds of sweet fragrant couscous. For this dish, I have recreated the light fluffy spiced couscous using millet as the base to make it gluten free, it has a wonderful flavour and works well with any tomato based casserole… perfect accompanying recipe to follow soon!
Gather
- 200g millet
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used pink Himalayan)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried mint
- 1/8 teaspoon mixed spice
- 600ml cold water
- 50g (1/2 medium) leek finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 20g raisins
- 100ml water
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
- pinch of salt
- 20g (3) dried (unsulphured) apricots finely chopped
- 10g (9) almonds sliced
Prepare
- Toss the millet with the salt, mint and mixed spice in a dry saucepan for a couple of minutes until you start to get a cooked aroma. Add 600ml of water and bring to the boil. Boil for five minutes then cover and reduce the heat to simmer for fifteen minutes.
- In a separate pan cook the leek in the balsamic vinegar and gradually add 100ml of water.
- Add the raisins to the leeks and continue cooking until all of the water has gone.
- Sprinkle the sugar over the raisins and a pinch of salt, then add the apricots and the almonds. Cook for a couple of minutes.
- Taste test the millet for texture (add more water if absolutely necessary) and add the raisin mix to the pan. Stir to combine, cover and cook for two minutes, then turn the heat off and leave to rest for five minutes.
- Fluff up with a fork and serve!
- Enjoy!
Serve & Store
- This is best served as a grain for tomato based dishes such as a vegetable tagine (or chicken/meat if you so desire)!
- Can be refrigerated and reheated by sprinkling water over the millet and microwaving until piping hot.
- Store covered in the fridge for up to two days.
- Alternatively serve cold with fresh salads.
Great choice! Millet is a wonderful replacement to couscous; we think the texture is pretty similar. We bet this dish has a gorgeous taste- flavoured with all of those intriguing and delicious flavours from Morocco! 🙂
Thank you! 🙂 I wish it was as widely available as couscous! Millet has much more protein and iron than couscous so in my book that makes it superior and perfect for this dish! 🙂
I’ve always wanted to cook millet or sorghum but have procrastinated in the last two years and done nothing. This recipe of yours has really inspired me. I can even try it with brown rice. I have a huge bag of brown rice that must be finished in the next two months otherwise it might start going rancid. I am definitely bookmarking this. Have a pleasant week!
Hello Liz. Thanks for visiting 🙂 Ooo I could think of loads of things to do with a big bag of brown rice! Rice pudding, rice pancakes, my quick & tasty vegetable rice, add to soup instead of pasta, make rice rissoles or just serve with any curry, chilli, my mushroom stroganoff or my spicy vegetable casserole! Although I’m sure this recipe would also work well with brown rice instead of millet 🙂 Let me know how it turns out if you do use the rice for it. Oh, another thought… I’m posting soon about a biriyani made with brown rice… a speedy version for a specific event! 🙂 Have a great week! 🙂
I love millet!!!! 🙂 I’ll definitely try this!!!
Thank you Daniela! 🙂 Let me know how you get on 🙂
[…] was created to serve with my Moroccan Inspired Millet… Couscous Style! posted yesterday as it is the ideal accompaniment and the flavours complement each other […]
Oh this recipe sounds really tasty! It’s a lot like a Jordanian dish that has almost similar ingredients minus a few such as the balsamic vinegar. Might have to try this one. 🙂
Thank you! 🙂 If you make the tagine with this it’s amazing! Let me know what you thought if you have time to make it 🙂
I Will make this tomorrow & serve it with vegan chorizo sausages,…Yum yum Yummm!
Ooo yummy! Take some pics for me 🙂 and enjoy!
I made it two times & loved it! Once, I served it with grilled fish!
Ooo Sophie 🙂 🙂 🙂 Excellent! Feel free to reblog it with a link back to me! 🙂