Moroccan-Spiced Chickpea Tagine

Instructions

1. start by preparing the couscous. Choose your favourite one (I chose one with spices). With one sachet of 125g and 150ml of boiling water, it serves 2 persons. Place a cover over the bowl and allow it to stand until the water is absorbed and the couscous can be easily separated.
2. in a pan sautée 1 medium onion, garlic and carrots - all finely diced. Add your favourite spices like cumin and coriander. In my case I had Ras el hanout from Morocco, which is a blend. Mix well until the spices release their natural oils.
3. add 250g chickpeas (either dried ones soaked overnight), or even tinned ones (drained and rinsed) will do if you don't have time. Also add half a red bell pepper and 1 small zucchini, , finely diced too. Mix well until all the ingredients are well coated.
4. add in 1 tin of cherry tomato sauce. If you don't have this, you can choose to add tomato pulp and cubed fresh tomatoes. The sauce needs to be thicker rather than thinner.
5. once the sauce is ready, transfer the couscous into a terracotta bowl as a base for the chickpea sauce. [If you have a tagine, you can follow its normal cooking instructions, but it may take longer]
6. Decorate with chopped parsley and serve hot.