Instructions: Bring 6 cups stock to a boil. Add carrots, onions, turnips, celery, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, salt and pepper to taste. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add squash, cabbage, chickpeas and coriander. Cook until tender, about 20 minutes.

To produce a thicker sauce, use a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon to mash some of the chickpeas or squash against the bottom of the pot.

Spoon cooked couscous onto a large deep-sided platter or individual serving plates. Make a well in the centre and fill it with vegetables. Pour 1 to 2 cups stock over couscous. Serve warm.

Yields 6 servings.

Chicken Couscous: Before adding vegetables, simmer 3 lb chicken pieces in 6 cups water for 30 minutes. Remove chicken; debone, then shred meat. Return meat to pot; add vegetables as above.

Lamb Couscous: Before adding vegetables, simmer 1 lb lamb shoulder cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes in 6 cups water for 1 hour; add vegetables as above.

Note: Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian Jews serve couscous every Friday night, on festivals and for all special occasions. For Rosh Hashanah, Moroccans serve a stew of seven symbolic vegetables, seven being an auspicious number.

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