The basic recipe for couscous
For 4 servings you need:
- 200 grams of couscous
- 10 tablespoons of salted water
- 10 grams of butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
How to prepare the couscous:
- Mix the couscous with 5 tablespoons of salted water and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the soaked couscous into a sieve and then let it steam over a saucepan filled with water for about 5 minutes.
- Repeat the process: Put the couscous in a bowl and stir with 5 tbsp salted water, Let it steep for 5 minutes. Then pour into the sieve and let steam again for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Transfer the couscous to a bowl, stir in the butter and olive oil, season with salt and then use as you like.
Couscous is wonderfully suited as a light, healthy side dish to many dishes, but also offers a wonderful base for salads. You can find creative and unusual recipe ideas for couscous in our photo gallery.
Cooking with couscous: you should know that
Couscous is one of the staple foods in North African cuisine, but is now also popular in Germany. No wonder, because couscous is very versatile: It tastes good as a side dish with meat or fish, but can also play the main role in a dish – for example in casseroles or salads. And you don't even have to cook a lot of couscous for that.
The preparation of couscous is very simple: pour the same amount of water or vegetable stock over the instant couscous, let it soak for a few minutes until the couscous has absorbed the liquid, and then stir the couscous with a spoon or loosen it with a fork. Season with salt and pepper, add a few fresh herbs – and you're done! If you like, you can toss couscous in olive oil and butter.
By the way: Mint is good for seasoning couscous – just stir in a few leaves of fresh mint or cut open a tea bag of mint tea and use the mint as a spice. Add a little sour cream or crème fraîche and a few squirts of lemon juice – and after a few minutes you have a quick, healthy meal on the table without many carbohydrates.
Background knowledge on the couscous trend
Traditionally, couscous is prepared in a so-called couscoussière – a pot with a sieve on top. If you don't have couscoussière, you can – as in our basic recipe – use a saucepan and a colander.
Bulgur or couscous? Both wheat grains are very popular in modern, light cuisine. Often you can use either one or the other to cook a recipe without making too much difference in taste.
Couscous is usually made from durum wheat semolina, but there are also couscous based on millet or barley semolina or green spelled. It is similar to the bulgur, which is also a staple in North African cuisine. The difference: couscous semolina is ground much finer; while the other is made from wheat groats. The wheat grain remains clearly visible there.