Curry couscous with almonds and shiitake, a dry bag for the trail

Ingredients

0 of 11 out on the counter

• 2 cups dry couscous
• 1 cup sliced raw almonds
• 8 dried shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin
• ½ cup dehydrated carrot
• 4 tbsp dehydrated onion flakes
• 60 g dry textured soy protein (TVP), weighed on a scale
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 4 cups water, 1 cup for each bag, filtered and boiled at camp

All set! Everything is out. Time to bake.

Method

1. 1At home, stir the curry powder, ginger, garlic powder and salt together in a small bowl. Each bag gets 1½ tsp curry powder, ½ tsp ginger, ½ tsp garlic powder and ⅛ tsp salt from the mix: measure it out by the spoon, level.
2. 2Set out four quart freezer bags. Into each bag put ½ cup (86.5 g) couscous, 2 sliced shiitake (7.2 g), 2 tbsp dehydrated carrot (9.25 g), 1 tbsp onion flakes (5 g), 15 g textured soy protein and its spoonfuls of the spice mix. Seal.
3. 3Put ¼ cup (23 g) sliced almonds in a small bag for each kit, so the almonds stay crisp, and tuck it inside the big bag. Squeeze the air out, seal, and write the date on it. Each kit is about 152 g dry. Everything in it is dry and holds at air temperature, so it carries for a day on the trail with no cold pack.
4. 4At camp, use water you have filtered and purified. Bring 1 cup (237 g) to a boil per bag. Tip the almonds out into a clean cup, then pour the boiling water over the dry mix, in the bag or in an insulated mug.
5. 5Stir, seal or cover, and let it sit 10 minutes. At Boulder's 5,430 ft water boils near 203 °F, a little cooler than at sea level, so the house sits it 12 minutes there (our kitchen practice: the held sources give the boiling temperature but no rehydration minutes). The couscous is done when no hard grains are left and the shiitake is tender.
6. 6Fluff with a fork, stir in the almonds and eat it right away. Eat it within 2 hours of mixing, or within 1 hour if it is above 90 °F out (CDC); throw out what is left rather than carry it on.