COUSCOUS RISOTTO-WONDER RECIPE FOR VEGGIE LOVERS

Couscous is one of my favorite ingredients and I love adding it to my food in form of salad or cook it like upma.

I love the shape, texture and taste of tiny round couscous. Even though the authentic way to make couscous (according to middle easterners) is using a coucousiere (double boiler with a perforated top to hold the couscous), I usually make it just like suji/semolina upma and with lots of vegetables for a light meal.

Couscous is a coarsely ground pasta made from semolina, a type of wheat. In fact, there is an expression in Hebrew based on the word semolina, which actually means 'the best there is’! Good luck and blessings. In North African tradition, couscous is always the first dish prepared to inaugurate a new home, and is served at holidays and celebrations to represent abundance and fruitfulness.

Ever since I tasted the instant couscous at a friend’s place, a year ago, I have been making them more often. Sometimes I try out new flavors with it apart from the recipe on the back of the box.

I love risotto and I was thinking why not make it with instant couscous rather than rice? So, here comes the outcome of my recent experiment- “Couscous Risotto”.

Ingredients:

Couscous: 1/2 cup

Red Bell pepper chopped: 1/2 cup

Green onions chopped: 1/2 cup

Green chilli chopped: as per taste

Blanched carrots ( finely chopped):1/2 cup

Cream style golden corn: 1 ½ cup (I have used Del Monte Sweet corn cream style)

Curd:1 cup

Water:1 cup

Balsamic Vinegar: 1 tsp

Salt: as per taste
Pepper powder: 1/4 tsp

Butter: 1 tsp
Coriander Leaves chopped: 2 tablespoon

Mozzarella or Parmesan Cheese: 1 tsp grated.

Method:

1.Mix instant couscous and 1 cups of boiling water in a bowl and leave it closed for 15 min.

2. Fluff the couscous well breaking up any lumps. Add salt and keep aside.

3. Add all the vegetables including cream of corn and mix well.

4. Add water, curd, salt, pepper and coriander leaves.

5. Whisk all the ingredients together and mix it well. It should look like a dosa batter (consistency) or rather pan cake mixture consistency. Avoid making it runny.

6. Heat a pan and add butter and allow it to melt. Now add the risotto mixture and stir it for 5-8 minutes on medium flame. Don’t overcook it.Reduce the extra amount of water in the dish. Just do away with rawness of the veggies but the crunchiness should be retained.

7. Add the cheese and allow some standing time for the dish to absorb all the aromas.

8. Garnish it with loads of chopped coriander leaves and add few sprigs of mint leaves (break it with your hands).

 Let me tell you, the result was amazing! The texture of the couscous grains was PERFECT in the "risotto" and contrasted really well with the mixture of curd and cream corn that I used. And best of all, couscous cooks much faster than the arborio rice used in traditional risotto, it's a much faster process (only about 10-12 minutes)!

Happy Cooking and savor the food for life!