What is the best recipe for couscous from scratch that is in English?

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

i want to see if it is similar to what i've found in hebrew..

i've heard some women are making it from scratch and it takes them very long time..

maybe it is worth preparing because of better taste..

anyway. you better have some equipment and ordinary semolina for that.. i think you can't make it with instant semolina..

so maybe there are some people seeing this thread and they can answer..

 

[dragnlaw]

I'm not sure how you think couscous is made. It is my understanding that it is water and semolina, mixed, rubbed by hand into tiny balls, steamed and dried. Where is the special equipment you mention?

It is basically a hand made pasta, yes? I don't see where you would be getting a better taste from it.

 

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

i heard many times that when you make from scratch it is much better.

i think the method j saw on video is different than what you described..

 

[dragnlaw]

Yes, many times making something from scratch is better. Just not always. Depends on how much time and effort you are willing to give. Plus there are different types of couscous. Moroccan, Israeli or Lebanese. Which style are you looking for.

Or perhaps I've misunderstood.
Are you asking for recipes using couscous or actually making the actual pasta?

 

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

Moroccan

asking on making from scrach

 

[dragnlaw]

OK, I've just been searching and can't find a single recipe on how to actually make the couscous itself.
Could you please post a link to the Hebrew version? I'd like to see what they do.

 

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

sure
let me do that in the morning

 

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

earlier than expected..

here it is..

 

[pictonguy]

earlier than expected..

here it is..

Ok, first of all this isn't making couscous from scratch, they are using commercial couscous, which is made from semolina. couscous is actually a pasta made from semolina, which is what they are using and again are not making it from scratch.

Anyway, for plain couscous I put a liter of couscous in a 1/2 hotel pan made of stainless and then pour the hot water which is equal parts (1:1 ratio) over it and cover with plastic wrap, works perfectly every time.

 

[dragnlaw]

@SEEING-TO-BELIEVE I know why you think they are making it from scratch.
He has cooked a tremendous amount and from what I've seen it has all clumped together. Despite that fact that he has been stirring it.
After it has absorbed the liquid he now has to pass it through a sieve to separate and what we would call "fluff" it.

As pictonguy has said - they are not making it from scratch.

 

[pictonguy]

@SEEING-TO-BELIEVE I know why you think they are making it from scratch.
He has cooked a tremendous amount and from what I've seen it has all clumped together. Despite that fact that he has been stirring it.
After it has absorbed the liquid he now has to pass it through a sieve to separate and what we would call "fluff" it.

As pictonguy has said - they are not making it from scratch.

Yeah, he totally screwed that up,

 

[dragnlaw]

@SEEING-TO-BELIEVE as I don't understand what they are saying, could you sort of give a small bit of translation?
That's a lot of talking about rehydrating a pasta. Plus the extra work of sieving it to break it up.

 

[SEEING-TO-BELIEVE]

it is semolina and not dried couscous that he is adding to the pot..

i thought about something.. maybe you will not like the video because they are also talking about things related to politics..
feel free to delete if you are not interested..

anyway..
i don't know what is the longer method that they are talking about.. they say that there is a method that takes more than a day to make..

 

[taxlady]

I found this video.

 

[dragnlaw]

I'm not conversant in Hebrew so could only watch what he was doing.

Taxy! that's an amazing video and really shows the process beautifully. Who is that guy?

Now based on that video, I can understand what the 1st guy was up to in Seeing's video. He was making a big batch all at once. Maybe for in a group or restaurant setting? I admit once he hauled out the meat I stopped watching. I assumed it was a full show for a meal.

Where as the 2nd guy was probably doing it more like an individual would for the daily dinner.

 

[dragnlaw]

By rubbing it thru a sieve or rubbing it on the tightly woven basket, you can choose the size. The smallest will, of course, cook faster while the bigger the couscous, the longer it will take.

Lebanese couscous being the largest with about the size of peas.

I think the Italian version of all this is orzo. Although some is made with egg, it is basically the same with flour and water and individual pinching and rubbing. I couldn't find too many sites doing it but I'm not the best and finding things like that, LOL. that's taxy's forté.