Couscous bil Osban

Name: Couscous bil Osban
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 210 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Libyan Coastal & Tripolitanian
Ingredients: 1 kg couscous semolina; 1 osban casing (cleaned tripe or intestine); rice, liver and offal (finely chopped), parsley, mint, onion; hararat, turmeric, chili, tomato paste; lamb pieces, chickpeas, vegetables

Libya's most distinctive couscous: steamed semolina served with osban — a stuffed sausage of rice, herbs, offal, and spices simmered in the stew — rich, aromatic, and reserved for gatherings and Ramadan.

3 hr 30 min · Serves 8 · Takes some skill

Recipe by Halal Gourmet Editorial Team

Ingredients

Grain

1 kgcouscous semolina

Osban

1 osban casing (cleaned tripe or intestine), zabiha; thorough cleaning is essential
rice, liver and offal (finely chopped), parsley, mint, onion, zabiha

Spice

hararat, turmeric, chili, tomato paste

Stew

lamb pieces, chickpeas, vegetables, zabiha

Method

Start cooking mode

Time: Prep 90 min · Cook 120 min · 210 min total
Difficulty: hard

1
Clean the casings meticulously; mix rice, chopped offal, herbs, onion, and spices; stuff loosely (the rice expands) and tie.
90 min
2
Simmer the osban gently in the spiced tomato-and-lamb stew — prick to prevent bursting.
75 min
3
Steam the couscous over the stew in stages; mound and serve with sliced osban, lamb, and vegetables.
45 min