Curried Couscous Salad with Orange and Mint

Many people think that couscous is a grain, but it really is a very tiny pasta made with semolina flour.  The name is derived from the from the Berber word "seksu" and it most often is used as the starch in North and West African dishes, and sort of surprisingly in Italy - particularly in the regions around Sicily.  

I guess I shouldn't really find that surprising since, as I just said, couscous is actually a pasta.

A couscoussière

Most of what we get today is mechanically produced, but in days gone by the village women would gather together and make couscous by sprinkling the semolina with water and rolling it with their hands to form small pellets, which are then dusted with dry flour and then sieved. After the couscous was made it was left to dry  in the sun.  The couscous is traditionally cooked in a couscoussière, which is a two-level steamer pot.  Far more labour-intensive than boiling a pot of water, opening and adding a box of instant couscous, and letting it sit for 5 minutes!

Couscous is most often use in dishes where meat or vegetables are spooned over it - probably the most famous is the Tagine.  In Lybia, however, it is also made into a dessert called Maghrood, which combines the grain with dates, sesame and honey.  Egyptians make a similar dish using butter, sugar, cinnamon, raisins and nuts.  

This is a long way of me getting to the fact that couscous is a flexible starch and has many uses, including being used in a salad.  This salad has a nice subtle flavour of curry and the raisins, orange and mint add a sweetness and zing at the same time.

Curried Couscous Salad with Orange and Mint

1 1/2 cups couscous
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups boiling water

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 orange, zested and cut into segments (a can of oranges can do in a pinch)
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup chickpeas (canned are fine)

Directions

Bring the water to boil in a medium sized pot.  Add butter and allow to melt.  Add couscous, stir and cover tightly remove from heat.  Allow the couscous to soak for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Whisk together olive oil, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Pour over the fluffed couscous, and mix well with a fork. Add the chickpeas, parsley, raisins, orange zest, orange segments and mint, mix well, and season to taste. Serve at room temperature.