Oriental cuisine has long been famous for its original dishes, analogues which can not be found in any other kitchen in the world. The fact is that cooking in these countries is not just related to satisfying hunger, but carries a whole rite, the meaning of which is sometimes known only to the inhabitants of the East. One of the most original side dishes in eastern countries, as well as in the Mediterranean, was couscous, the preparation of which requires special skill and skill from the hostess.
The classic recipe for couscous contains 0.5 kg of semolina, a quarter cup of vegetable oil, 1.5 cups of water and a teaspoon of salt. So how to cook couscous? First you need to mix semolina with salt and add vegetable oil to this mixture. Mix all the ingredients with each other thoroughly until you get a homogeneous mass of golden color. Here you need to pour a little water and carefully rub the mixture with your hands until the lumps completely disappear. Then again add a little more water and rub it all over again with your hands. After this, the resulting mixture must be sent to a double boiler. There is one small secret: in order to prevent grains from spilling out through the colander of a double boiler, you need to lay a cotton cloth on it . Cook the resulting couscous for about 10 minutes until the top layer is hot. Following the recipe for couscous, it is necessary to put it in a dish and knead the resulting lumps until a homogeneous mass is formed.
You need to let him cool a little. Then add water again and grind thoroughly. The main thing when preparing this dish is to constantly ensure that there are no lumps. The resulting substance is again sent to the double boiler for another 10 minutes. It must be covered. At the next stage, water is again added to the future couscous and everything is thoroughly mixed, and then it is sent to the double boiler for the third time, but for 15 minutes. Although the recipe for couscous seems quite simple at first glance, its preparation requires some degree of culinary skill from the hostess.
It is necessary to boil couscous more than once, namely in three doses, allowing it to gradually become saturated with moisture. All grains should eventually become soft and transparent. A great difficulty in the preparation of this dish is the correct calculation of the infused fluid. Many housewives who used the couscous recipe poured water for the first time, which led to the formation of lumps. This situation can be corrected by wiping the decoy through a colander. A sieve is not suitable for these purposes. The finished dish must be laid out on a large flat plate, leaving a small depression in the center. It contains meat, poultry or lamb, as well as vegetable stew , depending on the preferences of the cook.
Since cooking couscous on your own is quite difficult, many housewives prefer to purchase it in a store. It is interesting that you can try the real taste of this original oriental side dish only in the Maghreb, Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia. It is there that women cook surprisingly delicious and crumbly couscous. In other countries, it is sold as a semi-finished product that needs to be poured with a small amount of water. In Mediterranean cuisine , a little lemon and mint is added to it, which makes the taste fresh and non-trivial. Chefs of Maghreb cuisine actively add spices to couscous from which it turns yellow and aromatic. To prepare such a side dish at home is quite difficult in view of the fact that you need to accurately measure the amount of liquid added to it and the time spent by it for a couple. In addition, the taste of homemade couscous will differ from the purchased one. To understand why Arabs love him so much, you need to try this dish in eastern countries. Enjoy your meal!