This meal is made out of defiance, chicken, cumin, stubbornness and couscous. All in one pot!
It was my night to cook and I was resisting, because well, I wanted to make cookies. As I begrudgedly (is that even a word?) stood in the kitchen and eyed off my stove I declared ‘If I’m cooking I’m only using one pot!’
So there. That’ll teach the, er, cat.
Little kitten. Wired. As always. Could be all the banging in the kitchen.
And then something magical happened. I remembered about my friend couscous. And chicken. And garam masala and stock. And vegetables!
Couscous is awesome. You cook up all the chicken, spices, vegies and what not, put a whole lot of stock and tinned tomatoes in and just add uncooked couscous. Cover the pot with a lid, let the magic happen, and ta da! Dinner!
It turns out this is already a dish. But I swear I invented it too. Then googled it, and refined it. Now it’s here for you!
Topped with coriander (cilantro), natural yogurt and served with wine – it’s just perfect.
And, it only uses one pot.
Preperation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: about 40 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients
1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
½ teaspoon each ground cumin, ground coriander (cilantro) and chilli powder
½ red onion, halved and cut into thin wedges
1 skinless chicken breasts , cut into bite-sized chunks
1 small eggplant (aubergine), or half a large one, cubed
1 capsicum, sliced (any colour, or I tend to use half-half of a green and a red)
½ cup stock (from a stock cube)
Handful of mushrooms, sliced
Handful of green beans, cut to bite size pieces
1 x 400g cans tomatoes
Zest and juice 1 lemon
½ cup couscous (about 100 grams)
small bunch coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
Method
- Place the cubed eggplant on a plate and salt lightly, then place another plate on top. This allows the eggplant to sweat a little and takes the bitterness away.
- Heat a large non-stick casserole dish or pan on the stove. Add the garam masala, spices and onions to the pan with a dash of oil, stir and cook gently for 10 mins until soft.
- Add chicken and brown for 5-10 mins.
- Add eggplant and capsicum, and ½ cup of stock. Simmer for 10 mins until liquid is gone and eggplant is nearly cooked.
- Tip canned tomatoes into the pan with 1/4 can of water, mushrooms and beans, simmer until heated through.
- Add the lemon zest and juice, couscous and seasoning, stir until combined .
- Cover and turn off the heat. Let stand for 10 minutes, stir through coriander and serve.
Healthy? About 410 calories a serve. They’re big serves too, you may just end up having it for lunch the next day.
Gluten free? No. Couscous is a wheat product
Storage: Can freeze, but not the best. Keeps one day in fridge, reheat well.
Modified from Good Food.