Lemon couscous

This dish is very new for me. I tried it only recently. The reason for trying this dish is my friend and collegue named Sascha. He prepared a similar dish with couscous. The dish was very attractive for me because the individual coucous grains were seperate and they looked lovely. It tasted great too. Before, I have tasted couscous a few times but I did not like it. But Sascha's preparation was awesome and so I enquired about the recipe.  He explained to me how he prepared and I modified it to suit my Indian taste buds. Need not to say, the recipe turned out great. I have become a huge fan of it. Try it and  I am sure if you prepare it this way you will love it.

To say a few words about couscous, it is nothing but broken wheat which is processed in a special way. If you ask whether it is healthy.....I think all foods are healthy until you maintain your limits :). It has lots of selenium which is an anti-oxidant. It is low on fat. But it is more or less like a pasta and has a high glycemic index. Hence it is not suitable for diabetic people and non-diabetics can enjoy this ocassionally. It is a perfect dish  for young children to meet their extreme energy needs. This is how I prepared lemon couscous :

Ingredients :

Couscous- 1 cup

Water- 1 cup

Lemon- 1/2 of one lemon (depends on how big the lemon you use is, adjust according to your taste)

Onion- one small one or 4 pearl onions

Green chillies- 4 nos

Ginger- a very small piece

Fresh coriander leaves- 2 tbspns (minced finely)

Saffron- few strands (optional, for the colour)

Turmeric- 1/4 tspn
Mustard, jeers and channa dhal - 1/2 tspn each for tempering

Oil- preferably olive oil or seasame oil

Silvered almonds- 2 tbspns

Salt to taste

Method:

I used the quick-cook version of couscous. It gets cooked in a few minutes. Boil one cup of water. Switch off the stove. Squeeze in lemon juice, add 1 tablespoon of oil and few saffron strands to the boiled, piping hot water. Now empty one cup of couscous into the hot water and close the bowl with a plate. After 3 minutes open the bowl. Now the couscous would have absorbed all the water. With a fork stir well to make the couscous fluffy. Now heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan. When the oil becomes hot add channa dhal. When the channa dhal browns add mustard and jeera seeds. Let them splutter. Now add cut onions, green chilles, minced ginger pieces and turmeic powder. Saute for a minute. Add enough salt. Now empty the already cooked couscous in the pan. Switch off the stove and mix them well. Let it stand in that heat for sometime. Garnish with minced coriander leaves and silvered almonds. Very tasty lemon couscous will be ready to be served. Serve hot or cold.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : For one cup of couscous I used on cup of water. But remember that I used a quick-cook version. Make sure you too buy the same. The instruction on the packet said, for one cup of couscous add two cups of water. But when I first prepared like that it became sticky. So one cup of boiled water is enough to cook one cup of couscous. I added saffron for the colour it imparts. The main part is the amount of watre to use and I hope I clarified it. You need not have to cook the couscous for a longer time in the pan. Remember the couscous is already cooked. You are just tempering it with onions and other ingredients. The main point is to make the couscous fluffy and not mushy. If you succeed in it then the dish will turn awesome. Happy cooking !!! and have a beautiful week ahead!!