Vegetables Stuffed with Couscous

My mum once told me about stuffed tomatoes when I was a kid. She had tried it at her friends place, and said it was probably a bad idea as most tomatoes went untouched…she said there was no fun to have mushy rice in raw tomato. Ofcourse we both knew that there would have been some mistake on the cook’s part while making the dish but first impressions stick hard on your mind, isnt it….so together for years we never agreed to taste this dish wherever or whenever.

Gradually, I came around to the idea of stuffing vegetables starting with other vegetables like potatoes or coconut based filling moving on to paneer then cheese and then soy crumbs and then biryani…I liked it a little more than the earlier experience each time.

I wanted to make 3-4 couscous based recipes this week under the moroccan theme, but with me I end up cooking all 5 days worth on the same day, so I had to do a mix bag to ensure there is a complete meal on the table – like most Indians prefer, a bread , a veggie, rice and a gravy, a side dish to munch in between and cool drink to wash down….so this recipe sat somewhere in between the menu courses….

Ingredients
vegetables – pepper, tomatoes, zucchini, aubergine ( should have firm exterior )
for stuffing
200gm Couscous
300 ml water
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tspn cumin seeds powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tspn red chilli powder
salt to taste

Olive Oil -3-4 tbsp

Method
1) Prepare the couscous stuffing first, boil 300ml of water. Add this to the cousous in a large bowl. Drain off any excess and cover it with a lid on and let it stand for 10 min
2) Add to the couscous  the rest of the stuffing mixture. Add some olive oil on top and give a good stir
3) Take the vegetables and cut off their lids. You can roast them and use them in the stuffing or for some other dish. I would not suggest adding to the stuffing for better taste
4) Scoop out the seeds on core using a spoon.
5) Add some olive oil and season the inside of the scooped vegetables and let it sit for 5-10 min to marinate.
6) Fill the stuffing in the vegetables. brush more oil on the vegetables.
7) Now bake them in preheated oven at 200 C for 10-15 min. Keep a close watch

Serve this along with tagine or any gravy dish you like. It works great as a full meal as well

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