How to Cook Couscous-Easy Couscous Recipe with Sauce-(Vegetarian)

Couscous is made from tiny granules of durum wheat. The couscous grains are cooked by steaming them until they have a light, fluffy consistency. It is traditionally served with a meat or vegetable stew spooned over it. Couscous is a staple food throughout the North African cuisines of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania and Libya.The traditional technique for preparing couscous involves steaming the granules multiple times in a tall pot called a couscousière.(reference-wikipedia and culinaryarts) Most couscous available commercially is an instant form which is quick and easy to cook. Today we will learn how to cook couscous and an easy vegetarian sauce with garbanzo beans to go with it.

Couscous with Vegetable tomato sauce

How to cook Couscous
Recipe adapted from here

Cook time – under 10 mins
Serves -2

Ingredients needed

Instant couscous – 1 cup
Water – 1 1/4 cup
Salt -1/2 tsp
Butter – 11/2 tsp

Cooking instant couscous takes hardly 5 minutes.

Boil water, add salt and butter to it. When water comes to rolling boil, reduce the flame, add couscous and stir for a minute and switch off the flame.

Keep it closed. After 5-6 minutes, you can see that the couscous would have absorbed all the water. Fluff it with a fork and keep it aside. Couscous is ready.

How to prepare Couscous Sauce with vegetables and garbanzo beans

Prep time – under 10 mins
Cook time – under 20 mins
Serves – 3

Ingredients needed

Butter or oil – 1 tbsp
Onions -1/2 cup chopped (I used shallots/pearl onions)
Garlic – 1 pod peeled and chopped
Beans and carrot -1/3 cup chopped
Potato -1/2 cup boiled and cubed
Cooked Chickpeas -1/2 cup
Tomato puree -2 cups

Chilli powder -1/2 tsp
Pepper powder as needed
Oregano – 3/4 tsp
Salt as needed

Preparation

Parboil or steam the chopped carrot and beans.

Pressure cook potatoes, peel the skin and cut it into cubes.

If using dry chick peas, soak it overnight and pressure cook adding a little salt until soft.

Blanch tomatoes and extract tomato puree. How to blanch tomatoes?

Method

Heat butter or oil in a pan/kadai, add chopped onions and garlic. Saute until onions turn transparent.

Add the steamed beans and carrot.

Add the cooked potatoes,cooked chickpeas, chilli powder, salt needed, pepper powder, oregano and mix well.

Add the tomato puree, 1/2 cup of water and cook simmered for 15 minutes. Sauce should be watery.

Vegetarian couscous sauce is ready. Serve couscous with hot sauce.

We had this for dinner and it was very delicious and filling.

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Comments

Anu

November 8, 2013 at 1:06 am

Do we get couscous in Indian super markets ??

Padhu Sankar

November 8, 2013 at 3:31 am

In India,you will get it in supermarkets in big cities.

Shobana Vijay

November 8, 2013 at 7:58 am

I never knew this

Anon

January 10, 2014 at 4:15 am

Can you add some Quinoa recipes as it is similar to couscous in texture

Manju Subramonian

June 6, 2014 at 9:53 am

Hi padhu
Thanks for posting this. Its very healthy and I too prepare in my home along with olives and chickpeas. It goes well with hummous