How to Prepare Vegetable Couscous (3 Easy Steps)

Wondering what a Couscous is? Couscous is just dry pasta crushed into pieces. It is not like a plant, it is gotten from pasta, pasta is made from durum wheat. To prepare this vegetable, simply follow the instructions below and use the right ingredients.

Ingredients for the Couscous

• 1½ cups couscous
• Chicken Stock
• ¼ cup green peas
• 2 hotdogs (frankfurters)
• A small quantity of sweet pepper (fresh paprika)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon mixed seasoning
• Salt (to taste)

Ingredients for the Chicken Balls

• 500g (1.1 lbs) chicken mince
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon mixed seasoning
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 handful fresh parsley leaves

Ingredients for the Vegetable Sauce

• Chicken Stock
• 3 medium mushrooms
• ¼ cup diced sweet pepper (fresh paprika)
• ¼ cup diced green bell pepper
• ¼ cup diced carrots (or halfmoon cuts)
• 1 red onion
• 1 tablespoon Nigerian curry powder
• Salt to taste

Notes about the ingredients

1. You can use either whole wheat or plain couscous. Whole wheat couscous is more nutritious than plain couscous just like brown rice is more nutritious than white rice.
2. I would say have 1 litre of chicken stock before you start preparing this meal. I never measure the stock I add, you will see how I get the perfect quantity in the directions.
3. Chicken Stock adds a lot to the taste of the couscous
4. Hotdogs also add a lot to the taste of the couscous. If you do not like hotdogs, use cow liver.
5. I did not even use up one sweet pepper (fresh paprika) in the making of everything on this page. You can also use Nigerian tatashe as alternative.
6. The mixed seasoning contains equal amounts of thyme, seasoning cubes and black pepper
7. For these Chicken Balls, great alternatives to fresh parsley leaves are fresh basil or Nigerian curry leaves. When using fresh basil chop them up a bit because the leaves are broader.

What to do before you cook the Vegetable Couscous

1. Rinse all the vegetables thoroughly
2. Dice the peppers, hotdogs and half of the onion. Slice the other half of the onion. Slice the mushrooms

How to prepare the couscous

Make the Chicken Balls

1. Place the chicken mince in a clean bowl.
2. Add salt, mixed seasonings and onion powder.
3. Massage with your hand till everything is well combined.
4. Add the parsley or any other alternative you are using. Mix till evenly distributed within the chicken mince.
5. Mould into small balls and place in an oven tray.
6. Bake in a preheated oven for 180 degree Celsius (350 F). While baking, turn them around from time to time so they cook and brown evenly. You can also shallow fry them in a frying pan. The chicken balls should be ready in about 30 minutes.

How to prepare the Couscous

1. When the chicken balls are about to get done, set the chicken stock on to stove to boil.
2. Put the couscous into a clean bowl. Add the green peas, salt, mixed seasonings, onion powder, diced hot dogs ans diced sweet pepper. Mix everything with a spatula.
3. When the chicken stock boils, pour into the bowl of couscous and ingredients till the chicken stock covers the ingredients by about 1 centimetre or half an inch.
4. Stir with a spatula and cover with a plastic film. set it aside to absorb all the chicken stock and swell up.

Preparing the Vegetable Sauce

1. Set a small quantity of chicken stock in a pot, set on the stove and bring to a boil.
2. When it boils, add the chopped onions, carrots, mushrooms and curry powder, cover and continue cooking.
3. After 3 minutes, add the sliced onions, red and green pepper, salt (if necessary) and more chicken stock if it is drying up.
4. Cover and once it boils again, it’s done!