Simple Summer Couscous

How many of you have seen the Night at the Museum 2 where Frank Azaria comes as Kahmunrah and lisps his way through the movie, adding to the fun & comedy of it?

Here is a famous line (at least chez moi) in which he says of Owen Wilson who is a miniature cowboy, “ Why, you are no bigger than a grain of Couscous” My son imitates that line to the little one (his sister) and for some reason this sets her off into great peals of laughter, which in turn causes the ripple effect of chuckles from the rest of us J

Never really tried making couscous so far since I have always had it as a cold dish with parsley (the cilantro impersonator to the not-so keen eye, or nose) and has the one middle-eastern/ Mediterranean dish I have not much cared for. But sometime in the last year I have bought some couscous from Trader Jo’s and a little rummaging in the pantry brought forth an pristine, unopened box of couscous. This is nice! I am trying to get back on the healthy eating track after months of summer binging on delicious yet not so waist-friendly foods. I decided I’d make it as interesting and Indian as possible without compromising on its origins J The verdict from me is, HELLO & WOW, Where have you been all my life, Cous dearest! (And try saying that with a lisp for added humor )P

So here is my simple summer couscous recipe  - 250 guilt free calories for this meal (:

Ingredients

½ cup of couscous for 2 portions

1 cup of water

1 tsp olive oil

Mustard seeds (optional)

Urad Dal (optional)

2 green chilies/jalapenos (fresh from my garden)

3-4 sage leaves (fresh from my garden)

1 sprig of spring onions (fresh from my garden)

2 tbsp grated coconut

½ handful of roasted peanuts, crushed to a fine powder

Salt

Preparation

Bring water to boil with salt and ½ tsp of olive oil.

Add the couscous and cook for about 6-8 minutes

In a pan, sauté in1/2 tsp of olive oil, the chilies & sage.

Add the cooked couscous

Top with grated coconut and turn

Next add the crushed peanuts and turn again until all of the ingredients are finely blended

Serve hot with some tomato chutney (recipe for this to follow)

With Tomato Chutney :)

Linking this to Taste of Pearl City's Anyone can cook series #30

Olive Houmous

I am following up on my pita post with a totally yummy Olive Houmous!

In the picture - Mother's Day Daisies From My Daughter :)

A funny tale behind this wonderfully delicious dish -  So last year, some of my family decided to go to an island resort in Greece – While I did read some about Greece and the food options for vegetarians, I was well aware that meat was the mainstay for Greeks. But the romantic notions of fresh Greek Salad and Houmous and yogurt were very uplifting. Then we get there and this resort was kinda isolated – a 45 minute boat ride to the biggest island/tourist resort, Hydra. Not a soul there knew what the heck we were asking for when we tried to order Houmous – Not a soul knew the heck how to talk in English either – There I was playing a game of Pictionary, drawing with all my might and gesticulating verily to make them understand until one other customer at the café said, Ah whomoosh! In rapid Greek, he explained to them what I was talking about and I could tell light bulbs were coming on brightly and their broad smiles made me realize what a dummy I was asking for a Lebanese/Turkish dish in Greece and expecting them to understand!

While we never got to eat houmous, we did eat a lot of unbelievably thick and sluggish yogurt, which seemed to me made purely of fat, like the fresh churned butter (vennai) that we do have on Gokulashtami in India.

I have mentioned to you Bobbi’s humus which is sold on occasion in Sam’s club and how crazy we are for it. Sabra is a brand that sells a really yummy humus too although they are getting more commercial.

So when I made the pita, I went all out and made Olive humus (houmous) too.

So here my friends, is a happy companion to the pita.

I will like to compare this combo to a chappati/chutney combo or dosai/thogayal combo.

Ingredients

3 cans garbanzo beans

1 can of black olives, pitted

2 tbps of tahini sauce

8-10 cloves of garlic

6-10 red chilies

1 tbsp black pepper

2 tbsp Virgin Olive Oil

Preparation

Grind the contents together in a fine paste

Pour into a serving container

Dribble the oil over it

Add a spring of your favorite herb for decoration (I used basil)

Serve with Pitas

BIG TIP: SERVED CHILLED FOR BEST TASTE
Sending this to my own event which is being guest hosted by Priya of Bon Appetit

Hot Pita Pockets

I am making my first forays in to this cuisine with Pita Pockets.
A Middle Eastern bread Pita has gained immense popularity in many countries and can be compared to the kulchas or naans, the Indian breads. I have always been a huge fan of Middle Eastern foods (their vegetarian foods, more accurately) and this was only reinforced by the fact that my dear Doc Oz is from Turkey and he says the middle-eastern cuisine is one of the healthiest, by far, being rich in protein and Omegas and over all very less in fat.
But, as seasoned cook, we are aware that we can make any cuisine healthy or not by the ingredients we use. For instance, I followed a pita recipe verbatim and got excellent results. For this I had to use all-purpose flour as opposed to my usual multi-grain or whole-wheat- I tried whole wheat and I tell you I did not get the same result. This is a very easy recipe with 5 ingredients only. It is awesome when the results are good – and I was thanking the person who submitted this recipe to About.com!
But for my readers sake,I give not only an ingredient list but also a step-by-step pictorial so that you no it is coming out the way it is supposed to. Here we go!

Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups of water
1 pack of rapid rise yeast
1tsp sugar
1 tsp of salt

Preparation
First get ½ cup of warm water and add the packet of yeast with the spoon of sugar and stir in well so that it is completely dissolved. Set aside for 15-20 minutes until the yeast is frothing
In a big basin, add the flour and salt and mix them well
Make a hole at the center to pour the yeast
Add 1 more cup of warm water and knead like Billy-o (10-15 minutes) or until your wrists and biceps are begging for mercy 
Gently oil the ball of dough and wrap and keep for 3-6 hours
The dough will double in size and get very porous.
(I find that it also smells like beer: )!
Take lemon sized balls and roll out
Make like you would chappatis or tortillas.
Once done, wait a minute or two before cutting and trying to peek into the pocket!
Let out a triumphant “yay” when you see the wonderfully, bready pocket, waiting for its Fill of Houmous and falafel – for a yummy falafel recipe check out my falafel post here.

First the Yeast

The Flour

The dough just prepared

The dough after 4 hours

Rolled and on the tawa

One last peek