1. In a bowl, thoroughly coat the lamb or beef pieces with the salt, paprika, turmeric, and black pepper. Set aside.
2. In the lower compartment of your steamer on medium-high heat, add in the extra virgin olive oil, and fry the peppers on all sides until they are nicely browned and soft. Gently remove and place the peppers in a separate bowl keeping as much oil behind as possible. Set aside.
3. In the same lower compartment, add the sliced onions and fry for about 2 min then add the lamb pieces. Stir and sauté as needed until they are nicely browned on all sides (about 10 min). Add the tomato paste, traditional harissa, and stir until well mixed.
4. Add the water and bring to a boil. Note, you may need to add more or less water depending on the dimensions of your pot, the key is to cover the meat by a few inches leaving enough room for the vegetables to be added later. At this point, it is better to add less water than too much water as you can adjust if needed after adding the veggies).
5. As the water is coming to a boil, prepare your couscous by tossing it in 1-2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a bowl. Once the couscous is well coated, transfer it to the top compartment of the steamer and then place that compartment over the couscous broth. It is important that as little steam as possible escapes from the side (between the two compartments) so if needed, wrap and tie the side with a long piece of cloth to trap the steam and force it up through the couscous. Allow about 45 min to 1 hour of cooking time.
6. After about an hour, remove the top compartment and check one of the meat pieces in the boiling broth to see if they have cooked through enough. Once it looks tender/cooked enough, scoop about a ladle of the broth and pour it over the couscous. Allow the broth to settle for about a minute and then gently stir the couscous grains to mix the sauce into the grains (as little as possible and without mashing the couscous!!).
7. Add the veggies into the sauce and (if needed) top up with as little water as possible just so that the veggies are just barely covered by the broth. Return the top compartment of the steamer and cook/steam for another 45 minutes.
8. After 40 min of more cooking/steaming, the couscous should be ready. Remove the top compartment, and in a large & wide plate empty the cooked couscous in. As it’s still hot, sprinkle about 1 tbsp of black pepper and salt (to taste) and gently stir. Remove the lower compartment from the heat and pour about ⅓ to ½ of the sauce over the cooked couscous (without any of the meat and veggies). Gently stir and mix the sauce into the couscous until well homogenized and the couscous grains have a nice orange color from the absorbed sauce. Note: You don’t want to add too much sauce otherwise the couscous will get soggy and overly clumped so, if needed, add the sauce in small ladle increments to ensure the sauce is absorbed into the grains and that they keep their fluffy texture.
9. Remove the meat and vegetable pieces and place them on top of the orange couscous with the meat at the center, the veggies and fried peppers around (or in any fashion you desire). Pour the remaining sauce in a separate bowl and keep it to the side at the table for anybody who wants to add more sauce to their individual couscous plate.
10. Each individual couscous plate should get a little bit of everything so serve and dig in!!
