Nigerian style couscous

Recipe – How To Make Nigerian Style Couscous

Our recipe of the week is Nigerian Style Couscous! Is the whole family tired of eating rice all the time? This recipe is a wonderful alternative. It is simply a Nigerian Fried Rice style inspired Couscous. Couscous has a very fluffy texture which is quite bland in itself so to thoroughly enjoy it, you will need to incorporate intense flavour into it. Enjoy!

Nigerian style couscous

[Read: How to make Ofada Rice and Sauce]

Ingredients:
  • 2 Cups Couscous
  • 2 Cups Chicken Stock or Water
  • 150grams Minced chicken/ boneless chicken (you can substitute with minced meat)
  • 1 Cooking Spoon Olive Oil
  • 3 Cloves Garlic Minced
  • 1 Cup Thinly Chopped red, Green, Yellow mix Bell Peppers( Tatashe)
  • 1 Scotch Bonnet Thinly Chopped (Rodo)
  • 1/2 Cup Chopped Carrots
  • 1 Medium Size Onion chopped
  • 1/2 Cup Sweetcorn
  • 1/2 Cup Green Peas
  • 1 stalk Spring Onions
  • 2 Knorr Chicken Cubes
  • 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Curry Powder
  • Salt to Taste
Cooking tips

1. To further enhance the flavour of your Couscous, do try to use raw chicken or meat, because when it is fried, as stated in the recipe, the juices from the chicken/beef increases the flavour of the Couscous when added. This is particularly important if you haven’t got chicken stock to use, you can just steam your couscous with water and add the juices from the fried chicken and vegetables.

2. If you will be using frozen vegetables, try as much as possible to use fresh carrots at least. Most frozen vegetables are not flavourful and may taste bland when added to the couscous, amp up the flavour a bit by using fresh sweet carrots and sweetcorn.

3. A very important tip for cooking Couscous is using equal amounts of water/stock and Couscous. What this means is, if you are cooking 1 cup of Couscous, make sure you use the exact quantity of water or stock.

Method:

1. Get your core ingredients ready

2. Season the raw chicken/mince with the Knorr cubes, garlic powder and curry powder, combine thoroughly and leave to marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.

3. Get a large frying pan or wok, place on a hob on medium heat, add the olive oil. When it’s hot, add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, then add half of the onions, sauté till fragrant.

4. Add the raw chicken, if you are using any, fry till it loses its pinkness and begins to brown.

5. Then add the minced chicken, stir thoroughly to break up clumps, fry till the mince is well cooked

6. When it is cooked, scoop out the contents of the pan, leaving just the oil. Set the chicken/ beef aside.

7. You should have at least two tablespoons olive oil left in the pan, if you don’t, add more.

8. Add the chopped carrots into the pan, sauté for 2 minutes to soften the carrots a bit, then add the peppers, sauté for 2-3minutes.

9. Now add the remaining vegetables, in this case, the sweetcorn, green peas and spring onions, sauté for 2 minutes

10. Add the chicken/ beef back into the pan, stir and combine for 2 minutes

11. Set aside when done… It is time to prepare the couscous.

12. Get yourself a saucepan, place on a hob on medium heat, pour in the chicken stock or water if you haven’t got chicken stock, bring to a boil

13. When it starts to boil, add the couscous. Cover with a lid or tightly cover the pan with foil, remove the pan from the hob and set aside. Set aside for about 5 mins, by this time, the couscous would have soaked up all the stock and softened considerably

14. After 5 minutes, open the pan and fluff up the couscous with a fork

15. Add the cooked vegetables and chicken

16. Mix thoroughly and it’s done. You can return it back to the hob for a minute to heat it back up.

17. Voila! Your Nigerian Style Couscous is ready. Serve immediately

Source: SisiJemimah

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