Bongu Samaiyal - II

This one is for you amigo and all you bachelors who first decide what to eat for dinner, then go to the supermarket and buy the ingredients and then cook( unlike me who will decide based on the energy level and ingredients left over in the fridge)

So this is the cous cous & stew recipe. I make this when I am tired of eating rice for dinner. This is healthy because of the high fibre in the cous cous and the stew is just vegetables / meat and lots of water. I use a small chunck of every vegetable I have at home. For 4 adults I would add half a carrot, 1 small potato, 1/4th cauliflower, 1/4th brocholli, a handful of frozen peas, some beans and ½ kg of chicken (optional)

Ingredients

Cous cous – buy any brand from the supermarket ( you will find it along with the pastas)

For Stew
A few vegetables ( carrot/ beans/ cauliflower/ potato/ brocholli/ peas/ zuchinni/ chokoes)
Tomato – 2 (you can use ½ tin diced tomato instead)
Green chillies - 2
Chicken stock / vegetable stock - 200 ml
Any meat – 500 gms ( I used chicken) - Optional

Seasoning
Cinnamon sticks – 2
Cloves - 3

Cooking Instruction:

1. In a large deep pan add about 3 table spoons of oil / butter ( for elite ones)
2. Add cinnamon sticks, cloves and onion and fry till the onion is transparent
3. Add slit green chillies
4. Add diced tomatoes ( or tin)
5. Add the chicken ( brown the chicken in a separate pan if you want) *
6. Now add vegetables
7. Mix them well
8. Add the stock and let it boil for few minutes
9. Now add enough water to cover the meat and vegetables
10. Add salt, close lid and let it boil
11. Keep adding water until the vegetables are quite soft and the meat is cooked to soup consistency

You can cook this for over 30 minutes if you want and wait till you get the right consistency – like a thick soup
If you are like me ( hard pressed for time) , mix a small teaspoon of corn flour/rice flour with little bit of water and pour into this. Stew thickens in the next few minutes

Cooking cous cous.

The instructions would be in the box. Here is what I do
1. In a pan boil 1 cup water with a teaspoon of oil and salt
2. When it boils, turn off the gas and add 1 cup cous cous
3. Cover the pan and let it stand for 5 minutes
4. Add a spoon of butter/oil and run a fork through it.

Try this and let me know how it turned out !