Skip to main content

Couscous Salad



Let's set the record straight. Couscous is not a grain, its a pasta. I had to say this here, for I've said this so many times and yet no one believes me. For doesn't it look so much like bulghur or a rougher version of semolina. Yet, this north african staple is steamed and dried before it reaches you, just like any of your pasta.

My favorite couscous is served with a chickpea curry, but its summer and time for salads. And what's better than a minty, fresh couscous salad.

Heat 1 tsp olive oil, then add one chopped spring onion and a crushed garlic clove. Stir in 1/2 tsp of ground cumin and some salt, stir for a few seconds and add a cup of water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and stir in a cup of couscous. Let it stand for 5 minutes, by which time your couscous would have swelled and all water absorbed. Obviously, this goes for my brand of couscous, but go by whatever it says on your packet.

In a bowl, mix this cooked couscous with a chopped tomato and as much chopped coraiander and mint as you like. Add some pepper, a chopped chilli (or a chopped jalepeno) and juice of a lemon. I usually make this salad in the morning and keep it aside for the flavors to mingle by lunch time, but this is strictly optional. Just before eating, if you want some extra crunch, sprinkle your choice of nuts. Pine nuts recommended but almonds would do for me any day.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I've found my perfect cookie

It's a bite sized cookie, with flavors of a pie, shape of a croissant and a pretty, pretty name. It's Rugelach. I first heard of this cookie when it became the baking pick for Tuesdays with Dorrie a couple of months back. The looks, the concept - everything was fascinating. And I've dreamed of making this cookie ever since. I ditched hundreds of recipes floating around and went straight to the master. It's Dorie Greenspan's recipe that I used, and ain't I glad I got it so perfect the very first time. So what's rugelach? It's cream-cheese pastry dough, rolled then cut into wedges, spread with jam and sugar and fillings of choice, rolled into crescents and baked. First the dough. Dorie did it in her processor, but I just went and did it by hand. Put 100 gms cream cheese and 100 gms butter out of the fridge until they were soft but still cold. Added both to a cup of plain flour (I omitted the salt because I use salted butter). Rubbed the flour and but...
10 comments
Read more

Mystery Fruit

This only happened a few times every year, just when the rainy season kicked in. A street hawker will come by, straw basket on head. He will yell "kaul chapni" and I will run out to buy a bundle of these. Stuck together like flowers, they looked like a bouquet. Every hole contains a little fruit. You break out the package, peel the tiny fruit that pops out and eat it. Done slowly, it can take you an hour to eat an head. Or did, when I was about 12 years old. That was the last time I saw this fruit. I've never seen it again, didn't even know what it was called or where it came from. Three weeks back, Vikram Doctor wrote about a store in Khar that sells Sindhi foods. He described this fruit and I knew it came from my vivid childhood memories. And finally, I knew we were talking about lotus fruit. Now talk about coincidences. Last weekend, I was passing by a lane in Bandra and for the first time in many, many years I saw the straw basket filled with my mytery fru...
14 comments
Read more

Of Brun and Bun Maska

There is more to Bombay's breads than the pao that goes into pao bhaji and vada pao. There's Brun. and there's bun. We will get there. First, you have to get to know the city's Parsis. And Iranis, who are also Zoroastrians, but came to city a little later, in the late 19th or early 20th century. And when they came, they brought with them these little cafes that dot the city. I am no expert on Irani chai cafes. And I can't tell you whether Yazdani Bakery will provide you the best experience or Kyani's. But I can tell you a few things you need to ignore when you get there. Appearances don't matter; so ignore the fact that the marble/glass top tables and the wooden chairs look a bit dilapidated. Also ignore the rundown look the place sports. Instead, get yourself settled. And order a bun muska. This one's familiar to you as a first cousin of the soft hamburger bun. It's similar, but just a tad bit sweeter. Maska, of course, is the generous dollop o...
13 comments
Read more