While I love the regular teeny tiny couscous with salads, I find that pearl couscous is a very good replacement for rice or bread with meaty meals. The first few times I made pearl couscous it either turned out undercooked or overcooked (mushy and starchy). I quickly realised I was making a few fatal mistakes. Easy enough fixes, but things you should know before you cook couscous.

  1. Use the right water-to-couscous ratio
  2. Add couscous to already-boiling water
  3. Rest the couscous for 5 mins after it’s cooked through
  4. Fluff!

 

Directions

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  1. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of water to a boil.
  2. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Chop onions into 1cm squares (doesn’t have to be precise, just saying it doesn’t need to be finely chopped). Prep the rest of the veggies (whatever you’re using is fine).
  3. Mince the garlic.
  4. When the water is boiling, add the couscous to it and bring to boil again. Reduce flame to medium-high and cook (covered) for 10 mins.
  5. In a separate pan, add 1 tsp oil and saute onions, garlic and tomatoes. Don’t over stir or the tomatoes will lose their shape.
  6. When the couscous is cooked, turn off the flame and leave covered for 5 minutes.
  7. Stir in the veggies and serve immediately. Goes really well with Baked Fish.