Emma Miller
Couscous is a very tasty and dietary cereal that takes only a few minutes to cook.
Couscous is a wheat grit popular in the countries of North Africa. The exotic name hides the usual semolina, but in shape, it resembles large rice. In conditions of economy of gas and light couscous is the ideal groat, because it takes only a few minutes to cook.
This groat is one of the most dietary – the caloric value of couscous is only 120 kcal/100 g. The cost of couscous is comparable with other cereals – from 90 to 110 hryvnias per kilo. These grits can be cooked as a side dish with vegetables and spices, or cooked as it sweet milky porridge.
How and how much to cook couscous
Like semolina, couscous cooks for only a few minutes. Most store-bought varieties are steamed during production, which further reduces the cooking time. There is no need to rinse it.
Couscous can be boiled or steamed with boiling water. Cook couscous as follows:
- Prepare couscous and liquid in a 1:2 ratio;
- Bring water, milk, or broth to a boil and season with salt;
- add the couscous;
- simmer under the lid for 5 minutes;
- stir once and cover;
After cooking, stir couscous once more and salt.
To steep couscous with boiling water, you can do the following:
- fill couscous with boiling water at a ratio of 1:1.5;
- Cover the container with a lid;
- Leave couscous to swell for 15 minutes.
How to boil sweet couscous
For a sweet dish, couscous is cooked with milk and dressed with sugar. Then fruits, nuts, or raisins can be added to the porridge. For milk porridge you will need:
- couscous – 200 g;
- milk – 250 grams;
- pinch of salt;
- sugar – 2 tablespoons;
- Butter – 50 gr.
Pour the milk into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Then turn off the fire. Pour in flour and immediately add salt, sugar, and a piece of butter. Cover the pot with the lid and leave for 15 minutes.
What you can add to salted couscous
To make a delicious side dish out of couscous, various spices, vegetables, and herbs are added to it. Cereal goes well with such products:
- vegetable assortment;
- roasted carrots and onions;
- roasted garlic;
- chopped mint and parsley;
- dried tomatoes;
- olives and black olives;
- pomegranate seeds;
- curry spice;
- corn;
- chicken pieces;
- feta cheese.
Boiled couscous is also often used as a base for salads. Couscous salad is usually made with spinach, tomatoes, boiled eggs, and fresh apple.
