Whos Hungry - Part 4 Curry Couscous

D.I.Y. Meals For The Trail

To start I must reiterate, these are not my meal creations, they come from sources that I found on the internet.  I will attach links to where I found them.

My fourth recipe again comes from one of Andrew Skurka's Favorites.

Andrew Skurka’s Favorite Recipies #4

Curry Couscous

Key Stats

• Recommended meal weight: 5.7 oz
• Total calories: 703
• Caloric density: 123 calories/ounce

Ingredients

• 2.50 oz || Couscous
• 0.75 oz || Olive oil
• 2.25 oz || Your choice of dried vegetables, raisins, cashews, or freeze-dried chicken or TVP
• 0.10 oz || Curry powder
• 0.10 oz || Garlic
• Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste

Andrew likes this recipe best with dried vegetables and raisins, with a 1.00 oz and 1.25 oz split., but cashews add a nice crunch and freeze-dried chicken is a good source of protein. He has also tried allocating the 2.25 oz evenly among vegetables, raisins, and cashews but found that none of the ingredients were in satisfactory quantity.

At-home preparation

A soloist who prefers slightly soupy dinners like Andrew does can package all of the ingredients together, except for the olive oil. If you plan to use less water so as to achieve a more conventional consistency, you’ll need three packages: for the couscous, all other dry ingredients, and the olive oil. On weight-conscious trips Andrew keeps his olive oil in a 16-oz Plastypus Soft Bottle inside of a gallon- or quart-sized plastic freezer bag; for more casual trips, a Nalgene bottle is fine.

In a group setting, each member should be given their own ration of couscous. The other dry ingredients and the olive oil should be packaged separately and divided evenly in the field.

Cooking instructions

Andrew likes his meals soupy. To each their own, it comes out great either way:

For a soupy outcome, add all of the ingredients to at least 12 oz (350 ml) of water. The pot can be moved off the stove after the water comes to a boil, though a 60-second simmer helps everything more fully reconstitute.

For at-home consistency, add all of the ingredients, except for the couscous, to 10 oz water (300 ml). Bring to a boil and then stir in the couscous; simmer for 60 seconds if you care to. Let sit for 5 minutes.

My Finished Meal

Gathered Ingredients

My Rating

• 4 out of 5

What I liked:

• Good flavour.
• Very filling.
• Personally really liked the raisin / veggie,  1.25 oz / 1 oz ratio combo Andrew recommends.
• Very quick preparation.

What I disliked:

• I thought it needed more salt, which in turn really elevated the taste.
• I'm not the biggest fan of the couscous texture, though not a deal beaker. 

What my fellow tasters thought:

• Everyone enjoyed the meal but most of them, especially the younger ones picked out the raisins.

My thoughts and recommendations:

• I would add a little more salt the next time I make it.
• I think I will try it next time with cashews and chicken, maybe a few less raisins.
• Other than boiling water, all of this does work in a Zip Lock Freezer bag if that's how you prefer to do it, be sure to use a cozy either way to hold in the heat.