Ok..so I wrote out the instructions along with pointers to pictures that I took. If you want to see the pictures I can email you an invite through the site.
Hand-rolled Couscous-with pictures at yahoo.com the way my Moroccan sister in law taught me
1 lb Coarse semolina 1 cup Water Salt (makes about 4 cups of steamed couscous)
Making couscous by hand-the way they do it Morocco-is not very difficult-just time consuming.
The first thing you need to do is dump about a pound of coarse semolina into a large shallow dish. Moroccans use something called a gsaa-(pronounced something like gis ree ahh with the accent in the middle) You can use a large roasting pan. Shape it into a little mound on the edge of the dish furthest away from you--then sprinkle a little bit of water on it-about a tablespoons. (picture 1)
With your flattened hands start to pull from the bottom of the mound toward you keeping your fingers together. Pull until you have the contents of the mound closer to you. Push it all back into a mound again and sprinkle with a little more water and continue to pull the semolina toward you. Do this about three times using less than one quarter cup of water. (pictures 2,3 and 4)
At this point the semolina has started to change and absorb some of the water. You want to avoid making clumps and if you do make a clump or two-gently gather some of the mixture between your hands and rub while letting it flow back onto the dish. The semolina should feel much heavier now-and begin to look like couscous. If it feels too wet sprinkle some dry semolina over and mix it as above.
Next you need to pbutt the semolina through a sieve which makes all the grains about the same size. (picture 5,6 and 7)Once it has been pbutted through-you need to put it in the top part of a couscousiere or a double boiler. (picture 8) If the holes in the double boiler are very large-lay down some cheesecloth to prevent the couscous from falling through the holes. Set the grains over boiling water and let steam for about 10 minutes until you can see the steam coming through the couscous.
Dump the couscous back into your dish. (picture 9) It will be very clumpy and hot. Sprinkle about one quarter cup of cold water over the couscous and break up the clumps with a spoon. Once it is cool use your hands again rubbing the couscous gently between them. (picture 10 and 11).
Return the couscous back to the steamer and repeat this process two more times. The couscous will have swelled and is ready to use. (picture 12)
You can drizzle a little olive oil over the couscous and let it cool to use in a salad or if you want to use it in the traditional way-you would have steamed the couscous over a pot of simmering meat and vegetables.
For comparison purposes picture 13 shows the original semolina and the finished couscous.
