For those people who are used to using pasta in their meals they should also know how to cook couscous, which is like its substitute. Couscous consists of spherical granules that are made from semolina wheat that is known by several historians to date back to the 10th century. Couscous is a staple food in the Maghreb which is a region in Africa in the North of the Sahara. Couscous is traditionally steamed and fluffed in order to separate it from the granules. If it is boiled and stirred it can reduce to a sticky, starchy mush.
Couscous does not have a flavor itself much like pasta and this is the reason why couscous dishes are made with flavored stocks, herbs as well as spices together vegetables, dried fruits, nuts and meat added or used as a topping. Most of the couscous in the market are packaged and is considered the instant variety, which will cook very quickly off the stove by absorbing a boiling liquid. However, the authentic couscous, which is roughly ground hard durum wheat, will require you to spare more time as well as a good steaming vessel known as a couscoussiere.
You need to have several things on the top of your mind when trying to prepare couscous which will include making sure that you are sure about the specific type of couscous you have purchased so that you can be able to plan properly the cooking time and this may either be the traditional couscous or instant couscous. For the traditional couscous you will need to make sure that the pot is never covered when preparing the couscous because the condensation can drip onto the grains making it mushy. Couscous can be taken as porridge or as salads as well as desserts.
There are various ways you can use in order to know how to cook couscous and boiling is one of these ways. As a side dish, you should plan on ? to ? cup cooked couscous per person. Cooked couscous should be eaten within a couple of days and it can also be frozen by up to three months. You will need several things in order to be able to cook Couscous and this will include a bowl, a saucepan, a fork, a cup measure, a dishtowel, uncooked couscous, 1-cup couscous, ? teaspoon of salt and 1 ? cups of water. After gathering all these things, it is time to start the preparation and there several steps that you will need to follow.
This will start with gathering the ingredients that you will need to cook and then measure the water appropriately and add mix it with water in a saucepan. This water should be heated until it comes to boil. This boiling water should then placed in a bowl together with couscous and stir them together. You should then cover the bowl with a dishtowel and allow it to sit for 5 minutes and then remove the towel and fluff the couscous with a fork. In order to double or even triple the volume of instant couscous you should avoid the hot water method that is always given on the box and instead take time to steam it slowly.
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This article touched the basics of the topic. I have 2 more resources related to the above. They are how to cook couscous and how to cook couscous . Do consider reading them.
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