~472 cal · 14g protein · 95g carbs · 4g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Millet couscous with milk and dates
🇲🇷 Nouakchott
Aïch is Saharan sustenance: fine millet couscous, steamed and cooled, then mixed with curdled or soured milk and studded with dates. For Mauritania's desert people it is both breakfast and a symbol of hospitality, offered from a shared wooden bowl in the cool of the morning.
Sign in to save recipes to your book and leave reviews.
Make it yours
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 4 —
•
2 cups fine millet couscous
•
2 cups water
•
2 cups curdled or soured milk
•
3/4 cup pitted dates, chopped
•
2 tbsp sugar, to taste
Instructions
1
Sprinkle the millet couscous with a little water and steam it over simmering water until tender and fluffy, about 15 minutes.
2
Rake the grains apart with a fork and let them cool to just warm.
3
Fold in the chopped dates, then pour over the soured milk and stir to a loose, spoonable mixture.
4
Sweeten to taste and serve cool from a shared bowl, the way it is eaten in the desert.
Nouakchott and Saharan nomad tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Sign in to rate this recipe once you’ve cooked it.
No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Nouakchott. A desert-edge capital of roast lamb.
🗺️
Mauritania. A Saharan land of roast lamb and desert hospitality.
🌍
Africa. Fifty-four countries of tagines, stews, and fire-kissed grills.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
More from Mauritania
Méchoui
Whole lamb (or a shoulder) slow-roasted with cumin and salt until falling off the bone — desert feast food.
Zrig
Chilled sweetened soured milk, thinned with water — the cooling, sustaining drink of Mauritania's desert nomads.