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!!

A love story and idly upma

Before going to the above photographs explanation I would like to share with you one of my love story . My love affair with him started when  I left India and came to Germany. No, the previous statement may be wrong, the correct statement would be I realized the love for him only when I came to Germany . In India, he was most of the time near my reach. Atleast thrice or four times a week we meet each other. I used to wake up on hearing the sound of his arrival. I will be eagerly waiting for him, eventhough I never realized the passion and love I had for him. Since he is nearby I took him for granted.  He is so soft and as pure as a snow. ' Partha udane appadiye kadichu sapidalmnu thonum' .  He smelled great too. When I left him in India, I never had any regrets. But after spending few weeks in Germany I literally yearned for him . Sometimes I would wake up with dreams of his beautiful scent and softnes. OMG!!! I love him so very much, and I am talking about.........IDLY  yeah Idlies, the most wonderful of man's creation and I love him crazily .

When my friend posted idly upma recipe in her blog I wanted to taste it immediately. So today I made idlies for breakfast. Only during this India visit we bought an Indian made mixer grinder. Now I can prepare reasonably good idlies. But before with the mixie available here in Germany, I failed in my idly making attempt several times but I never forsook my attempt of making decent idlies. At last I came up with a recipe which called for the addition of beer in the idly batter  which made my darling as soft as I get in India. But now with the new mixie I do not encounter problems. My idli batter rises very well . So coming back to the point again, I tried Anu's idly upma recipe. It came out very well and I enjoyed it with a cup of tea as an evening snack. Thank you Anu and I always  appreciate the way you present your recipes beautifully (after all I learned from you but never so perfect). Keep on posting girl and please try some of my recipes too .

 Here is the link for Anu's idly upma recipe. Enjoy!!! and Happy cooking!!!