Serves 4

Ingredients

400g couscous
400ml hot vegetable stock
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch parsley
3 mint sprigs
1 lemon
2 tomatoes
3 spring onions
4 fresh figs
1 tbsp honey
1 small pomegranate

Method

Place the couscous in a bowl. Pour the hot vegetable stock over the couscous, cover the bowl and leave the couscous to swell for 15 minutes. Once it has absorbed all of the liquid, loosen the couscous with a fork. Finely crush the cumin and coriander seeds using a mortar and pestle. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and briefly fry the spices until they turn fragrant.

Rinse the parsley and mint and shake dry. Pick off the leaves. Set a few parsley and mint leaves aside for garnish and finely chop the rest. Wash the lemon under hot water and pat dry. Finely peel the zest and cut into very fine matchsticks. Halve and juice the lemon.

Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems and finely dice. Wash and trim the spring onions and thinly slice them. Toss the tomatoes, spring onion, lemon juice, chopped herbs, cumin and coriander with the couscous. Set the salad aside for about 15 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.

Wash, trim and slice the figs. Warm a pan over a low heat. Add the honey and figs to warm through. Halve the pomegranate and carefully remove the seeds. Divide the couscous salad among plates. Serve garnished with the figs, pomegranate seeds, lemon zest, mint and parsley.

From Fairytale Cooking: Recipes and Stories by Alexander Hoss-Knakal (£20, Murdoch Books), out now

3 Middle Eastern-inspired recipes where pomegranate is the star of the show