Moroccan Chickpea Stew Over Couscous
Sweet potato, chickpeas, and tomato over instant couscous. One pot, two boils, no cold storage.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 87
- protein
- 17 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Small onion | 1 | stores at room temperature for weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Small sweet potato | 1 | small on purpose; it goes further diced than you expect |
| Moroccan spice mix | 1 tbsp | curry powder works the same way |
| Dried tomato powder or sun-dried tomatoes | 1/2 cup | replaces a can of chopped tomatoes |
| Dried chickpeas, cooked and dehydrated, or a foil pouch | 1 1/2 cups rehydrated | instant refried bean flakes also work |
| Instant couscous | 1/2 cup | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Boil 120 ml of water. Pour it over the couscous with a splash of oil, stir once, lid on, off the heat. Leave it alone.
- Dice the onion fine and cut the sweet potato into small cubes, about a centimeter. Smaller cubes cook faster and save fuel.
- Heat the rest of the oil in the pot. Cook the onion two minutes, until soft and still pale.
- Add the spice mix and stir for a minute so it hits the hot oil, then add the sweet potato, tomato powder, dried chickpeas, and about 480 ml of water. Salt heavily.
- Boil hard for 10 to 12 minutes, until the sweet potato gives up when you push a fork into it. Add water in splashes if it goes dry.
- Crush some of the sweet potato and chickpeas against the side of the pot with the fork. That is what thickens it.
- Fluff the couscous, split it between two bowls, and spoon the stew over.
Onions and sweet potatoes are the two vegetables that do not need a cooler. They sit at room temperature for weeks, which makes this the rare camp dinner with actual fresh produce in it. The original used canned tomatoes and canned chickpeas; both are mostly water and mostly weight, so tomato powder and dried chickpeas carry the same dinner at a fraction of the load.
The couscous goes first and then gets ignored. It rehydrates on residual heat while the stew cooks, so the stove only runs once. Crushing part of the sweet potato at the end is the whole texture trick: starch comes out, the broth turns into sauce, and it stops sliding off the couscous.
Packing
Spice mix, tomato powder, dried chickpeas, and couscous each go in their own small bag inside one dinner bag. Keep the onion away from the sweet potato in the pack; onions push everything near them to rot faster.
Variations
- A green bell pepper diced in with the onion holds up about four days out of a cooler.
- Any dried bean works in place of chickpeas. White beans cook fastest.
- Dried apricots or raisins stirred in at the end lean it Moroccan without extra weight.
- Instant rice instead of couscous if that is what you have, but it takes longer and more fuel.
https://www.advrider.com/food-for-the-road-moroccan-chickpea-stew