Spiced Couscous with Roasted Carrots

Sometimes when I come across a recipe and plan to try it out, it feels incomplete. Means, either it requires something else with it as an accompaniment, or more ingredients etc... Like when I saw this recipe by Nigella Lawson in her Nigella Christmas cookook titled Party Poussins with Festive couscous, obviously I liked the couscous part, but to serve it with a suitable vegetarian accompaniment was the problem. Also I wanted something healthy and easy to make. So I sort of slept on the recipe and when I wandered across the roasted carrots, it was like everything fell into place.

The recipes are pretty easy to make and you can serve it as a light meal or even at teatime. That is if you consider couscous as an equivalent of semolina or rava and  then this obviously becomes an upma with a twist.! So suit yourselves.Anyway I have spiced it up a bit as per my preference and add even curry powder to it.

Ingredients:

Couscous: 1 cup 

Water: 1 cup +/-

Veg Stock: few tbsp (optional)

Cumin Powder: 1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder: 1/2 tsp

Paprika or even chilli powder : 1/2 tsp 

Curry Powder: as per taste I used Kitchen King Masala.

Salt:as per taste

Fresh Cilantro/Coriander : few tbsp chopped 

Pomegranate Seeds: for garnish

Preparation:

In a bowl, mix together couscous and spice powders and salt. Pour in 1 cup of boiling water,mix it in and cover and let it sit for atleast 5-10 minutes. You can actually follow the instructions given in the couscous box for this. I even added about 1/4 cup of veg stock also to this though only water is also fine. 

Fluff the couscous with a fork, mix in few tbsp of cilantro and garnish with remaining cilantro and pomegranate seeds.

Serve with roasted carrots.

Roasted Carrots:

The recipe is  adapted from Food Network and is by Ina Garten. You can find it here.

Ingredients:

Carrots: 3-4 

Salt& Pepper:as per taste

Olive Oil: 1-2 tbsp 

Cilantro/Coriander : few tbsp

Preparation:

Peel and wash carrots and slice them into almost big sticks or pieces. Toss the carrots in a big bowl with oil,salt and pepper and then layer them onto a lined baking sheet. They actually shrink a bit during roasting so its better you slice them a bit thick. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 400f for about 20 minutes until they start browning. Take out toss it with chopped cilantro and serve hot/warm with couscous or even as a side to any mains.

A simple recipe and it paired well with the couscous and also could be eaten as a snack.