Monday, November 7, 2011

Eggplant Quinoa



Quinoa is a protein rich pseudo grain, meaning a seed actually used as grain and is of South American origin. With a slightly crunchy texture and a nutty flavor this can be substituted in place of rice in most of the dishes. Quinoa is available in your local health food store or online stores. This eggplant quinoa is super quick to make. With rice being a staple in the region from where I come, there are so many varieties of rice that are prepared and relished and this is one amongst them. But in my house hold since quinoa is a staple, I just substituted the rice with quinoa to make this protein rich one pot meal.  The spice powder  is the key to this flavorful and delicious dish and I make it before hand and this stays good for at least a week refrigerated.  Very easy to put together, just try out this dish and do let me know how you liked it.





Preparation Time - 10-15 Minutes

Cooking Time - 20 Minutes

Serves - 2



Ingredients





For the spice powder



Coriander seeds - 2 Tbsp

Split Channa Dal(Kadali paruppu) -1 Tbsp

Dry red chilies - 4 or as per taste

Cinnamon - 1 stick

Fennel seeds - 1 Tsp

Tamarind - 1 inch long piece

Coconut - 7 one inch pieces



Cooked Quinoa - 1 Cup

Eggplants - 1 big or 2 small Japanese eggplants(Chopped into small pieces)

Turmeric powder - 1/2 Tsp

Salt - 1 Tsp or to taste

Onion - 1 small(chopped into small pieces)

Coconut oil - 1 Tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Urad dal - 1 Tsp

Ghee roasted cashews - 1 Tbsp



Chopped cilantro - 1 Tbsp



Method



1) Dry roast the ingredients given under the spice powder section until fragrant and once cool enough to handle, make a coarse to fine powder and keep this aside.



2) Heat the pan, add a tsp of oil and once it is hot add the mustard seeds. After the seeds stop spluttering add the urad dal. Once it slightly browns add the onion pieces and saute for a few minutes till translucent.



3) Now add the eggplant pieces, add the salt and turmeric powder and saute till well cooked. Cover and cook and this will take any where between 8-10 minutes. Now add half of the spice powder saute for a second and add the quinoa. Add one more tsp of oil and mix thoroughly.



4) Garnish with ghee roasted cashews and chopped cilantro and serve with raita(yogurt dip) of your choice.







Events



1) Sending this to Healthy Lunch box ideas - Brinjal an event hosted by Priya an event started by Kalyani.



2) Sending this Healthy Cooking Challenge - Healthy Lunch Box Ideas by Edible Entertainment an event started by  My Tasty Curry



27 comments:

Nandini said...

Nice quinoa! It's very healthy and delicious!

MyKitchen Flavors-BonAppetit!. said...

Woww!,Yumm recipe.Deliciously presnted too.Luv it.

Prathima Rao said...

So nicely spiced..Loves this indian version with quinoa :)
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner

Raji said...

Nice and healthy one pot meal..quinoa is a real versatile seed which can be transformed into delicious meals.

Prathima Rao said...

Healthy, delish, nicely spiced quinoa..!! Not sure if my prev comment was published, so here`s another one :)
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner

Vidhya said...

Eggplant quinoa looks yummy, will try this as I have all the ingredients ready.

jeyashrisuresh said...

healthy and flavorful dish

Kaveri said...

A very healthy recipe...looks delicious

Priti said...

That's one healthy meal n delish ...gud one

Pranati Nath said...

nice & healthy dish....yummm

Indulge said...

this is comfort food at it's best, loved the rec..still new to the health food, but I am trying..
Love Ash.

Alpana said...

Wow.........this looks awesome.......Bookmarked.

julie said...

Delicious,healthy n innovative!! very tempting ..

sangee vijay said...

this is such a nutritious recipe and looks delicious...thanks for sharing!!

Priya said...

I tried this combo once and loved it..looks fabulous and healthy.

Swathi said...

qunioa with eggplant and spices looks delicious.

Charles said...

I just discovered the joys of quinoa a few months ago - it's so light... a really filling dish, and a fabulous alternative to potatoes, pasta and rice. I love the rich colour yours has... looks so delicious!

Shema George said...

Very interesting combination...thanks
-Shema George (www.lifescoops.blogspot.com)

divya said...

Wow they looks super irresistible, fantastic..

Prabha R said...

first time here...happy to follow your beatiful site...Nice combination of quinoa and eggplant..thanks for sharing...

anthony stemke said...

Great quinoa preparation, love the spices.

RAKS KITCHEN said...

Have not yet cooked quinoa, sounds great with eggplant,my favorite .

Rumana Rawat said...

Looks very tempting:)

Sobha Shyam said...

very healthy and delicious quinoa, looks yum..

Uma said...

Till now I never tried it and love it to eat just by seeing the picture and recipe. tempting too much.

Sensible Vegetarian said...

Thanks every one for your sweet comments really appreciate it. Alpana please do try out and let me know how you liked it.

Kavi... said...

Thank you so much for sending me your entry. Looking forward to more entries from you! :) I have linked your post to my event this time. Next time, do try to link it yourself. I have provided with a linky tool at the bottom of the announcement page. If you cannot, I'll always be here to link it for you.
-
Kavi | Edible Entertainment
Ongoing event: Healthy Lunch Challenge

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