Couscous with Sweet & Spicy Tamarind Sauce: Breakfast under 10 minutes

I was craving for something sweet and sour and remembered Gojju Avalakki my friend’s mum used to make. Gojju Avalakki is a savoury (sweet, sour and spicy) mixture made of poha (beaten rice flakes). Making this involves a bare minimum amount of cooking, just boiling a spice water that would be poured over crushed poha. I have done the same using couscous, and was very happy with the result.

So for those looking for barely moving your muscles and yet producing a breakfast/snack that looks like a lot of work has gone into it – give it a shot, besides it has the added glitz of being Indian inspired ‘fusion’ dish

Ingredients for Coucous

1/2 cup couscous
3/4 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp rasam powder
1 tsp tamarind paste
1 tsp jaggery shavings
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp channa dhal (split chickpea with the skin off)
1/2 tsp urad dhal
1 tbsp raw peanuts
1 spring curry leaves
1 tbsp chopped onions
1 tsp chopped green chilli
2 tsp sesame oil

Method

1. Place the couscous in a large bowl.
2. Mix the salt, rasam powder, jaggery, tamarind paste with the water and bring it to a boil.
3. Pour the hot mixture, over the couscous, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. The couscous would have absorbed all that spicy, sweet n sour water, fluff it up with a fork, and set a saucepan on the gas on medium flame.
4. Heat oil, and add mustard, urad dhal, channa dhal, and peanuts and stir around until you hear the mustard pop.
5. Now add the green chilli, curry leaves and onions and saute until onions turn pink. Take off the gas and mix this into the couscous, giving it a good stir.
6. Garnish with fresh coriander or any greens of your choice – I used baby mustard
Tip it into your plate and devour!!

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