Home-style recipes from around the world, written for real kitchens

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A dome of couscous with radiating lines of cinnamon and powdered sugar, and saffron-colored chicken emerging from inside
Prep30 min
Cook2 hr 30 min
Serves8 servings
CuisineMoroccan
Africa

Seffa Medfouna Recipe: Morocco's Sweet Couscous with Hidden Chicken

A Moroccan celebration dish of sweet steamed couscous hiding saffron-simmered chicken. Steaming couscous three times for fluffiness, a steamer substitute, simmering chicken in its own juices, balancing butter and powdered sugar, and decorating the dome with almonds and cinnamon.

Total: 3 hrLevel: Intermediate

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 8

Sauté the chicken and spices together

10 min

Sautéing chicken and onion with saffron and turmeric in a heavy pot
Sauté until the whole surface of the chicken is yellow and the onion has softened

In a heavy pot, put the skinned chicken, coarsely chopped onion, ground ginger, salt, white pepper, black pepper, cinnamon sticks, saffron, turmeric, butter, olive oil, and cilantro, all together. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring well, for about 10 minutes, until the whole surface of the chicken has taken on a yellow color, the onion has softened, and the butter and oil have blended into a glossy mixture.

STEP 22 / 8

Cover and simmer in its own juices

1 hour

Simmering saffron-colored chicken in onion juices in a covered pot
Simmer until it is tender enough to come easily off the bone

For chicken, basically no water is added. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, for about 1 hour in the juices released from the chicken and onion. Add water a little at a time only if it is about to scorch. It is done simmering when the chicken is tender enough to come easily off the bone and the center has been held at 75°C or higher for at least 1 minute. For lamb or beef, add enough water to cover the meat, bring to a boil, and simmer longer than for chicken, until tender.

STEP 33 / 8

Reduce the sauce

10 min

Removing the lid and reducing the cooking liquid to a silky onion sauce
Reduce until dragging across the bottom leaves a path for a moment

Take off the lid and reduce the cooking liquid over medium heat. The target is an onion sauce that has melted into a silky consistency, thick enough that dragging a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pot briefly leaves a path. Remove the cinnamon sticks, adjust with salt, and turn off the heat.

STEP 44 / 8

Steam the couscous the first time

20 min

Steam rising from couscous in the upper tier of the steamer
After steam rises from the surface, steam uncovered for 20 minutes

Fill the lower tier of the steamer about halfway with water and bring it to a boil over high heat, keeping the steam rising strongly. Put the couscous in a large bowl, drizzle with 3 tbsp oil, and rub it between your hands for 1–2 minutes, then add 1 cup water and let it absorb throughout. Break up clumps with your fingers and put the couscous loosely, without pressing, into the oiled upper tier of the steamer. Once steam rises from the surface of the couscous, steam it uncovered for 20 minutes. For the first round, the grains should be starting to swell plump, slightly softer when pinched but still with a core.

STEP 55 / 8

Add water and salt and steam a second time

20 min

Sprinkling water on the couscous returned to the bowl and rubbing it between palms to break it up
Let it take in water and salt, and break it up until the grains separate

Return the steamed couscous to the bowl and break it up while hot with a wooden spoon or your hands. Add 1 cup water and let it absorb, sprinkle on 2 tsp salt, then add another 1 cup water and work it through. Rub it between your palms until the grains separate, then return it to the steamer over high heat and steam for 20 minutes after the steam rises. The second round is done when the grains have swelled a size larger than the first time and crush softly when pinched. Remove any small clumps that will not break up.

STEP 66 / 8

Steam a third and final time

10–20 min

Couscous and raisins, plumped after the third steaming
The grains are lightly plumped, soft with a little bite remaining

Return the couscous to the bowl, break it up, and add water a little at a time, up to 3 cups at most, mixing as you go. Taste a few grains, and when they are soft but still have a little bite, stop adding water. If using raisins, drain them and add. Return to the steamer over high heat and steam for 10–20 minutes after the steam rises. It is steamed when the grains are moist and hold together, but separate lightly when loosened.

STEP 77 / 8

Sweeten with butter and powdered sugar

5 min

Mixing butter and powdered sugar into steamed couscous until glossy
Butter coats all the grains and the couscous spills loosely

While the steamed couscous is hot, transfer it to a large bowl, add 4 tbsp room-temperature butter, and work it in by hand or with a spatula until it melts through. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar, mix, and taste to adjust the sweetness. The target is for the butter to coat each grain, the whole to take on a sheen, and the couscous to spill loosely through your fingers.

STEP 88 / 8

Shape into a dome and decorate

10 min

Building a couscous dome on a large platter and drawing radiating stripes with cinnamon and powdered sugar
Cover the chicken, shape a dome, and draw stripes with cinnamon and powdered sugar

On a large platter, spread a quarter to a third of the sweet couscous flat. Place the warmed chicken in the center and spoon the sauce over it. Cover the chicken completely with the remaining couscous and shape it by hand into a dome about 15 cm high. On the surface, draw radiating stripes of ground cinnamon and powdered sugar from the top down to the base, and scatter crushed almonds around the base. Serve while the chicken and couscous are warm, with a faint steam still rising, to the table.

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Ingredients

Ingredients

1 / 3

Saffron-simmered chicken

Ingredient Amount Substitutes and notes
Chicken 1 whole chicken (about 1.3 kg) Cut up and skinned. Preparing it as bone-in thighs and drumettes is a home adjustment. With lamb or beef, about 900 g cubed
Onion 2 large Medium-coarse chop. A sweet variety is best
Ground ginger 1 tbsp
Salt 1 1/2 tsp Adjust to taste
White pepper 1 tsp
Black pepper 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon sticks 2 sticks (5–7 cm) Remove at the end
Saffron 1 tsp Crumble finely with your fingers
Turmeric 1 tsp
Unsalted butter 4 tbsp
Olive oil 1/4 cup (60 ml)
Cilantro 1/4 cup Chopped
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Steamed couscous

Ingredient Amount Substitutes and notes
Couscous 1 kg Fine or medium grain
Vegetable oil or olive oil 3 tbsp Work into the grains before steaming
Salt 2 tsp Add before the second steaming
Water about 5 cups total (about 1.2 L) 1 cup the first time, 2 cups the second, and up to 3 cups the third, judging as you go
Unsalted butter 4 tbsp Bring to room temperature. For finishing
Powdered sugar 1/2 cup Adjust to taste
Raisins 1 cup Optional. Soak in water for 20 minutes
3 / 3

Decoration and accompaniments

Ingredient Amount Substitutes and notes
Blanched almonds 1 cup Fry or roast, then crush coarsely
Powdered sugar 1 cup For decoration and for small dishes at the table
Ground cinnamon 2 tbsp
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On a large platter rises a mound of white. On its surface, cinnamon brown and powdered-sugar white draw radiating stripes, and crushed almonds are scattered at the foot. It looks like a sweet, but put a spoon in and out of the mound comes chicken simmered golden with saffron, along with a silky onion sauce. Seffa medfouna is a Moroccan celebration dish in which meat is "buried" inside sweetened couscous.

A Golden Chicken Sleeps Inside the White Mound

Around a platter of seffa medfouna at a Moroccan family celebration

"Seffa" is the name of a dish in which steamed couscous or finely broken thin noodles (shaariya) are sweetened with butter and sugar. "Medfouna" means "buried." The name comes from the saffron-colored meat hidden inside the mound.

Sweet couscous, and chicken simmered with salt, ginger, and saffron. It may seem a strange pairing elsewhere, but in Morocco dishes that combine sweetness and saltiness on one plate are not unusual. Just as the pigeon pie pastilla is dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon, seffa medfouna lets you taste salty meat and sweet grain on the same spoon.

According to Christine Benlafquih, a cook who has lived long in Casablanca and writes about Moroccan food in English, seffa medfouna is often served as one of several main dishes at a meal on a celebration day or festival. In the traditional way of eating, people gather around the platter and each eats from the part in front of them. Small dishes of powdered sugar, crushed almonds, and cinnamon are set to the side, and diners add sweetness to their liking.

Did you know

There are also seffas without meat. In Casablanca, a meatless sweet seffa is sometimes served after the main dish. The "seffa toubiza" of Meknes and Fez is a light supper without nuts, sprinkled with orange flower water and eaten while drinking milk, or with milk poured over it like porridge.

Couscous Is Something You Steam

Many people may think of couscous as a convenient dry good you eat after pouring boiling water over it and waiting a few minutes. In Moroccan homes, though, couscous is something you steam to grow, many times. In a two-tier pot called a couscoussier, the steam from water boiling below passes through the couscous in the upper tier, and the work of moistening and steaming is repeated about three times.

Benlafquih explains that steaming makes the grains swell and soften without turning sticky or heavy. It takes effort, but the mouthfeel is completely different from couscous only rehydrated in hot water; each grain is light and fluffy while keeping a pleasant spring. In a dish like seffa medfouna where the couscous itself is the star, this difference shows clearly in the taste.

There is also a way of making seffa in which thin noodles (shaariya) are steamed in place of couscous. Which one is used varies by region and household; noodle seffa has a delicate texture, and couscous seffa gives a texture of plump grains. This time it is made with couscous, which is easy to find.

A Steamer Instead of a Couscoussier

Even without a couscoussier, you can substitute a steamer, a bamboo steamer, or a large metal colander set over a deep pot. There are two points. One is that the bottom of the upper tier must not touch the water below. The other is to seal the gap between the pot and the upper tier with folded plastic wrap or aluminum foil. If steam escapes through the gap, it does not pass through the couscous well.

If you use a bamboo steamer, line it with fine-weave steaming cloth so the couscous grains do not fall through. The same applies if the holes of your steamer are large. Steaming a lot at once makes it hard for steam to pass, so if your home steamer is small, steam in two batches.

In Morocco, the chicken is a whole bird cut up and skinned. At home, using bone-in chicken thighs together with drumettes is an easy alternative. It can also be made with lamb or beef, in which case cubed meat is simmered in water. Saffron is expensive, but it is the deciding factor for the golden color and aroma of this dish, so do not leave it out.

Ingredients (serves 8)

Ingredients: couscous, bone-in chicken, onions, saffron, cinnamon sticks, almonds, powdered sugar, and butter

The ingredient table is generous, for 8 servings. Because this is a platter dish for a celebration, when there are fewer people you can make half the amount of both chicken and couscous. Instead of frying the almonds, spread them in one layer on a baking sheet and roast until golden brown in a 180°C oven for about 10 minutes, stirring now and then, which is easy.

Tip

Crumble the saffron between your fingertips just before using it to bring out the aroma. Soaking it in about 2 tbsp lukewarm water before it goes into the pot spreads the color evenly.

Caution

The steam coming off the steamer is extremely hot, and it is easy to get burned when returning the couscous to the bowl or removing the plastic wrap that seals the gap. Use thick oven mitts and keep your face away from the steam. If the water in the lower tier runs low, add boiling water to prevent it from boiling dry.

Tip

When moistening the couscous, do not add all the water at once; add it a little at a time and mix. If there is too much water, the grains turn soggy and do not swell even when steamed. Lightly rubbing them between your palms loosens the grains so they take up water evenly.

Tip

The couscous can be steamed the day before or early on the day. Before eating, reheat it in the steamer or in a microwave, then mix in the butter and powdered sugar.

Around the Platter, Sweetness Is Up to You

A table with small dishes of powdered sugar, almonds, and cinnamon around a platter of seffa medfouna
With small dishes of powdered sugar, almonds, and cinnamon

Seffa medfouna is brought to the table warm, just made. Gather around the platter and break down the dome a little at a time with a spoon, and the chicken and sauce appear from inside. With small dishes of powdered sugar, crushed almonds, and cinnamon at the side, those who want less sweetness and those who like it sweet can each adjust to their own taste.

The salty chicken sauce soaks into the sweet couscous, the aromas of saffron and cinnamon overlap, and each bite moves between sweet and salty. Serve with mint tea and you have a Moroccan pairing that carries on past the end of the meal.

If you want to enjoy more Moroccan cooking, comparing it with couscous, eaten topped with vegetables and meat, shows how the same couscous becomes a completely different dish. For another dish that combines sweet and salty, there is the pigeon or chicken pie pastilla (in Japanese). Together with harira, the soup indispensable at Ramadan tables, you come close to a Moroccan celebration table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Steamed couscous stored in a container and refrigerated

Can I make it with the type of couscous that is rehydrated with boiling water?

You can, but the mouthfeel tends to be heavier than steamed. Steaming boiling-water-rehydrated couscous for another 10 minutes or so in a steamer makes the grains swell and lighten. Use that as a method for when you are short on time.

Can I make just the chicken?

Of course. Chicken simmered with saffron is a side dish that goes with rice or bread on its own. When you cannot spare time for steaming couscous, making only the chicken is one way to enjoy it.

What if I want it less sweet?

Reduce the powdered sugar mixed into the couscous and let people add more to taste from the small dishes at the table. With the aroma of cinnamon and almonds, it still has the character of seffa even with less sweetness.

Can I make it ahead or store it?

Store the chicken and couscous separately. Cool both a little, refrigerate, and finish them early. Before eating, reheat the chicken in a pot all the way through, and re-steam the couscous before assembling.

Are there ingredients to be careful about with allergies?

Couscous is made from wheat (durum wheat semolina). The almonds in the decoration can cause nut allergy, and butter is dairy. If you have allergies, leave out the almonds and replace the butter with oil.

Sources

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