Quinoa Chapathis

Healthy Combo of Quinoa and Wheat

Yes, you heard right! I recently made chapathis with quinoa that turned out so delicious. Nobody could make out that I added quinoa to the regular chapathis. This is another way to incorporate quinoa in our daily recipes. Even if the kids don’t like quinoa for its texture or taste, they would definitely like these chapathis as they won’t even know that there is quinoa in the chapathi. If we really want our kids/family to eat healthy stuff like quinoa, we should do such tricks, do you agree?

OK then, read on to know how I made these healthy chapathis in a jiffy. 

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How to Cook Quinoa

Quinoa cooked and ready

Quinoa is a healthy grain which is low in fat and gluten free. Many people have been replacing rice with Quinoa due to its health benefits and low calories. It is much easier to prepare than rice and so filling too. As soon as I discovered this grain, I started loving it. I made so many recipes with Quinoa and blogged about them too. I sometimes replace rice with quinoa and eat as usual with dal, chutney and curd. 

In this post, I am mainly going to focus on stove-top method. Here is how I cook Quinoa:

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Quinoa – Besan Dosa (Crepes)

I feel Quinoa makes any dish healthy. These days I’ve been using Quinoa in many daily recipes. This is one such dish I prepared using cooked Quinoa. Dosa tasted so delicious and felt good. 

Ingredients: 1 cup cooked Quinoa 1 cup Chickpea Flour (సెనగపిండి, Besan) 1 tsp Cumin Seeds 1 ½ tsp Red Chili Powder Salt Oil or Non-stick spray  Preparation: Add quinoa + besan + cumin seeds + chili powder + salt in a bowl; pour some water and mix well to make a thin batter. Heat a non-stick pan. Then take a ladleful of batter, first pour around the edges of the pan in a circle and quickly fill in the circle to make it into a big circle.  Pour some oil or spray non-stick spray around the dosa and let the dosa cook for a while.  Then flip it over and pour some more oil (optional).  When it is cooked on both sides, remove from the pan and transfer to a serving plate. Repeat the same process with the remaining batter.  We enjoyed our dosas without any chutney as it tasted great alone.  These make a great breakfast with some juice on the side. Yummy!!

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Quinoa – Methi Pulao

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

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Quinoa Vermicelli Upma

I tried this delicious combo recently and it turned out so good. Nobody could tell that I added quinoa to Semya Upma. 

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Quinoa Cabbage Pulao

I did this yummy and healthy pulao replacing rice with quinoa. This pulao tasted so great with the addition of different spices and vegetables. 

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Quinoa Pongal

These days I’ve been trying to cook different dishes with Quinoa, a healthy grain. Recently I tried making pongal by substituting rice with quinoa and it turned out so yummy. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Quinoa
• 1 cup Moong Dal (పెసరపప్పు)
• 1 tsp Black Pepper Powder (can be replaced with peppercorns)
• 4 or 5 Green Chilies, chopped
• 1 Tomato, chopped
• 5 cups Water (4 + 1 extra)
• Salt as needed

For Seasoning/Tempering:

• 1 tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
• ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
• Few Curry Leaves
• Few Cashews
• 1 Red Chili

Preparation:

Wash quinoa + moong dal well and mix together. Place them in a bowl, add green chilies + black pepper powder + tomato + salt and pour water. Mix well with a spatula. 

Cover and place this bowl in a pressure cooker and cook for 3 whistles. Turn off the flame allow all the pressure go away. 

Later, heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add cumin seeds + red chili + curry leaves + cashews and sauté well until cashews turn into golden brown in color. 

Pour this seasoning on top of the cooked pongal and mix well. Enjoy the steaming hot pongal with desired chutney. Yummy and healthy!!

I am linking this post to Kavi's Healthy Cooking Challenge - Healthy Lunch, an event initially started by Smitha. 

On a different note:

Kalyani of Kalyani’s Platter passed me some cute awards last week, but I forgot to mention it in my previous post. Thank you for sharing the awards Kalyani! So nice of you :)

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Quinoa – Coconut Payasam

Hope you all had a wonderful Deepavali. We had a good one too. I made this yummy and healthy payasam on Diwali day. Tasted super delicious and was a hit at our house. 

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Quinoa
• ½ cup grated Coconut (fresh or frozen)
• 6 cups Milk
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 tsp Ghee
• Few Cardamom seeds, Cashews, Raisins

Preparation:

Wash quinoa well, add 1 cup of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. 

Meanwhile, bring milk to a boil. Add sugar mix well until it melts in the milk. Add cardamom seeds and mix well.

Finally add coconut + cooked quinoa mix well and keep the contents on medium low flame for some time.

When the milk seems to boil again, turn off the flame. 

Heat ghee in a small pan, add cashews + raisins and sauté well.

Pour this on top of the prepared payasam and mix well.

Enjoy this delicious payasam and feel happy :) 

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Quinoa –Spinach Upma

Quinoa has become very popular these days due to its health benefits. I have seen lots of recipes with quinoa on the net. Even I had tried many recipes with this heavenly grain. Many foodies have already posted different varieties of quinoa upma. Here is my version of quinoa upma that I usually prepare at home.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

• 1 cup Quinoa (Yields 3 cups cooked Quinoa)
• 1 cup Spinach, chopped
• ½ cup Mixed Vegetables (carrots, beans, corn, green peas)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 or 3 green Chilies, chopped
• 2 or 3 Tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tsp Amchoor Powder (Dry Mango Powder)
• A pinch of Turmeric
• 1 or 2 tsp Oil
• ½ tsp Mustard Seeds
• ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
• ½ tsp Bengal Gram (Chana Dal)
• ½ tsp Black Gram (Urad Dal)
• Few Curry Leaves
• Salt as required

Preparation:

Wash quinoa well and add to a bowl. Pour 2 cups water and allow the contents to boil. Turn the flame to a low setting and allow quinoa cook well for about 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Small spirals (the germ) separating from and curling around the quinoa seeds can be seen when quinoa is fully cooked. Then completely turn the flame off and fluff with a fork to separate the grains (optional).

Note: You may also cook quinoa in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles. But I personally prefer to cook it on stovetop as I feel pressure cooking makes quinoa too mushy.  

Now to prepare Upma:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop, add cumin seeds + Black gram + Bengal gram and sauté until the dals turn golden brown in color.

Then add spinach + onion + chilies + tomatoes + mixed veggies + curry leaves, mix well and allow cooking for some time until they become soft.

Then add amchoor powder + turmeric and mix well. Finally add the cooked quinoa and mix well. Add salt as required.

Keep on low flame for some time and turn the flame off. Transfer the cooked quinoa upma to a serving bowl and enjoy with desired pickle/chutney.

This is not only super healthy but also super yummy!!

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Brown Rice – Quinoa Dosa

This is another dosa variety I recently tried and liked. My daughter who never liked any kind of dosas that much, said this dosa is super delicious and wanted more. This is a very simple recipe that doesn’t require fermenting.

Ingredients: 2 cups Brown Rice 1 cup Quinoa Salt to taste Oil Preparation: Wash and soak brown rice and quinoa in different bowls for about 6 to 8 hours. Later grind them together into a fine paste. Add some water to dilute it and make into batter of pouring consistency. Add salt as required and mix well. Keep aside. Note: This batter doesn’t require to be fermented. The batter can be used immediately for making dosas after you prepared it. Heat a non-stick pan. Take a ladleful of batter, drop in the center of the pan and quickly spread into a thin circle. Pour little oil around the dosa and allow cooking. Later flip it over and allow cooking on the other side too. Finally transfer to a serving plate. Repeat the same process with the remaining batter or until required amount of dosas are prepared. Enjoy these delicious and healthy dosas with desired chutney.

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Quinoa Chutney Powder

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Quinoa
• ½ cup Coriander Seeds (ధనియాలు, Dhaniya)
• ½ cup Black Gram (మినప్పప్పు, Urad Dal)
• ¼ cup dry Coconut (shredded)
• 4 or 5 dry Red Chilies or 2 tsp Red Chili Powder (Can be adjusted accordingly)
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Dry roast all the ingredients and keep aside to cool for some time.

Add salt and grind all the roasted ingredients into a fine powder.

That’s it! Great tasting and healthy chutney powder is ready to be savored.

This chutney powder goes well with steaming hot rice. 

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Quinoa Halwa

A VERY HAPPY BHOGI, SANKRANTHI AND KANUMA
TO ALL MY READERS AND FRIENDS!

This is another healthy sweet I tried today for Bhogi. It came out so good and everyone (including the kids) loved it. For me Quinoa tasted like sago.  Taste was superb and I will make this again and again. Tomorrow for Sankranthi I am going to make Sweet Pongal (Chakra Pongali) and Pappu Chekkalu.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Organic Quinoa
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Milk
• 3 cups Water
• Few drops of food color (optional)
• Few Cashews + Raisins
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
• Few Saffron Strands
• 1 tsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Preparation:

Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews + raisins and fry until cashews become golden brown in color and raisins bubble up.

Then pour water and add saffron strands + food color (if using) + sugar and mix well. Bring the water to a boil. 

Wash quinoa well and add this to the boiling water and mix well. Also add milk and mix well. Cover and allow the mixture to thicken and quinoa gets cooked. Keep the flame on med. low as this tends to burn easily if put on a high flame. Keep an eye on it and keep stirring in between.

When the mixture becomes thick, transfer it to a serving bowl, garnish with more cashews and raisins and serve at room temperature.

Eat yummy stuff and enjoy the festivities!

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Quinoa Dosa

Quinoa is a grain that has little crunchy texture. It gives a nutty flavor when cooked. Quinoa belongs to spinach family. It is rich in proteins and fiber. Though Quinoa is not a very common grain in many kitchens, many are trying to explore this wonder grain due its health benefits.

Quinoa is a very good source of manganese as well as a good source of magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus; this "grain" may be especially valuable for persons with migraine headaches, diabetes and atherosclerosis. Source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=142

I made Dosas with Quinoa and they tasted sooo delicious!! This is an instant dosa and doesn't need any fermentation. And these are very easy and quick to make. 

Ingredients: 2 cups Organic Quinoa 1 cup Wheat Flour 1 cup Rice Flour Salt Oil Preparation: Wash Quinoa well. Then mix all the ingredients except oil into a batter using water as required. It should of dropping consistency and it should be considerably thin. Heat a pan and pour a ladleful of batter and make a circle.  But don’t spread it like most dosas. Start pouring the batter around the edge of the pan thus making a big hollow circle. Quickly fill in the circle with more batter.  Pour little oil around the dosa and allow it to cook for some time. Then flip it over and allow it to cook on the other side too. Pour little oil around the dosa if needed. Transfer the dosa to a serving plate. Repeat the same process with remaining batter.  Enjoy these healthy and yummy dosas with desired chutney. Yummy!!

This is my contribution to "WYF: Breakfast event, hosted by EasyCrafts.

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