The South Arm Community Kitchen meets again with the leadership of Minoo.  We enjoyed meeting one another after a long summer break.  We shared our summer stories while preparing and enjoying the food.

Minoo prepared three recipes for the first meeting.  The first recipe is a Quick Curried Couscous.  Couscous is a staple food of North Africa like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Western Libya.

This Quick Curried Couscous is easy and quick to prepare.  The couscous we found in Western supermarkets is the instant type, i.e. the couscous have been pre-steamed and dried and only needs a small amount of boiling water or stock to rehydrate the couscous, covered tightly for 10 minutes.  The couscous will swells  and ready to be fluffed and served.  It’s preparation time is shorter than dried pasta or dried grain like rice.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups couscous
• 3 cups chicken stock or water
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 bunch parsley or cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup of almond slices or slivered almonds

This recipe serves 6.

Instructions

Lightly toast the almonds in a dry pan until it’s fragrant and lightly coloured.

Mix chicken stock, curry powder, salt, pepper and raisin in a sauce pan and bring to a boil; remove from heat.

Add the couscous into the boiling liquid or pour the boiling liquid into a big bowl with the couscous.

Seal the top of the big bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Fluff the couscous with a fork and toss with olive oil.

Gently toss with almonds. Top with cilantro and serve.