Sweet and Sour Couscous

Sweet-and-sour couscous with pork stew and hard-boiled egg

Should you wish something more exotic than ordinary couscous, and fit for eating with a sweet Moroccan Beef Tagine, then this recipe is for you.

Although couscous is found in a number of countries, it is significantly associated with North Africa, where it is essentially a type of small, round pasta, made from semolina, which in turn is made from durum wheat, a particularly hard type of wheat.

We are fortunate in that most of couscous we find in the shops has already undergone significant preparation, such that all we need to do is boil some water (quantitites found on the side of the packet), add the required amount of couscous (together, usually, with a little oil and salt) and - well, there you have it. This recipe assumes such an easy packet of couscous.

Sweet and Sour Couscous Recipe

300 grams couscous (2 cups)

500 ml boiling water

½ teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

2 Tablespoons oil

¼ cup currants (pre-soaked in hot water to plump them up)

1 teaspoon orange or lemon zest

Boil the water, add the salt. Add the couscous (the pre-steamed and dried variety you get in packets, not the kind you need to prepare in a couscoussière). Leave for two minutes, then, with a fork, gently fold in the plumped-up currants (minus the water used for soaking them in), zest, lemon juice and turmeric, lastly add the oil. Serve hot, with Moroccan Beef Tagine.