Friday, March 9, 2012

Cilantro Quinoa

cquinoa1

Quinoa is a staple in my house. Traditionally we are rice eaters and make so  many varieties of rice. Since Quinoa has replaced rice, now I try out the different rice dishes with quinoa. Believe me instead of just adding it to salads and eating, the addition of spices give a totally new taste to this nutritious pseudo grain. Since quinoa is high protein and complex carbohydrate grain, even if you are weight watcher, diet watcher or carb watcher perfectly fits the bill.

For those of you who have questions on quinoa - Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) is an ancient food that has been cultivated in South American Andes since at least 3,000 B.C. Technically quinoa is not a true grain, but is the seed of the Chenopodium or Goosefoot plant. It is used as a grain and substituted for grains because of it's cooking characteristics. Quinoa can be found in most natural food stores and if you are buying in bulk, look for deals online.

Cooking Time – 20 minutes

Serves – 2 to 3

Ingredients

Cooked Quinoa – 2 Cups(Preferably cooked previous day and refrigerated)

Cilantro leaves – 1 bunch(washed, stalks removed)

Tamarind – 1 inch piece

Red chilies – 2 or to taste

Salt – 1 Tsp or to taste

Asafoetida – 1 small piece

Mustard seeds – 1 Tsp

Split Urad Dal – 1 Tbsp

Coconut oil – 1 Tbsp

Water – 1/4 Cup or more

Roasted Peanuts - handful

Method

1) Heat a pan and add 1 Tsp of coconut oil. Once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds. After the seeds stop spluttering add the asafoetida piece and urad dal. Once the urad dal slightly browns take a Tsp of spluttered mustard seeds and urad dal and keep it aside.

2) Now in the hot pan along with the rest of the ingredients add the tamarind piece, red chilies and saute till the chilies are slightly brown. Switch off and allow this to cool.

3) Now reheat the cold quinoa and once warm, add the spluttered mustard seeds and urad dal, roasted peanuts and keep it ready.

4) In a blender put the cilantro leaves, the roasted content, salt and add little bit of water and blend into a smooth paste. Add water as necessary and do not add more as we are not making a juice but a thick paste.

5)  Now add this cilantro paste to the warm quinoa and rest of the coconut oil and combine it. Serve with some vegetable raita and enjoy.

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Events

Sending this to Sangee’s HITS- Fiber Rich foods.

Sending to Julie’s EP-Series Herbs & Spices Cilantro and Cumin.

32 comments:

Shobha said...

I am just waiting to try out some quinoa recipes. It was not easily available in India.Now that I have moved to Brazil, I see it ecverywhere in the stores.
Just tell me how long does it take to cook quinoa ?

Rasi said...

This looks healthy & nice.. I am new to this grain & have to include it more.. Have wondered how i could replace this with rice.. shall give it shot!

Alpana said...

This is an awesome recipe........will try soon. Thanks for sharing.

Julie said...

Never tried quinoa at home but this looks delicious with the flavor of cilantro..Yumm yum!!
Thanx for linking it to my event,Sadhana!!

Cook in any recipe with "Cilantro /Cumin & Just link in EP Series-Cilantro /Cumin Event

Erivum Puliyum

The Yogi Vegetarian said...

This looks amazing! I am definitely going to make this; such a lovely green colour...I love quinoa! And the info on quinoa is really good too.

Hema said...

I love quinoa, looks great with that green color, even my post today is quinoa..

maha said...

looks so cool in colour..wat is quinoa??

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Quinoa looks very tempting and colorful. Excellent preparation.

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Uma said...

Looks so tempting and delicious. Nice dish.
Uma@Trendy Relish

Vidhya said...

This sounds so flavorful and delicious.Thanks for sharing.

Kalpana Sareesh said...

wonderful n healthy recipe

Vimitha Anand said...

Nice healthy recipe dear

Kaveri said...

Am yet to set my eyes on this wonder grain quinoa...this dish looks very attractive

faseela said...

yummy recipe dear....

Archana said...

looks delicious.

Sumi said...

love this recipe..have bought a packet but yet to start..;)

Ramya said...

Such a healthy and wholesome dish! I have been wanting to try quinoa for a long time! I must get a pack soon!

maha said...

What a lovely color!! Looks soo inviting!

deeps recipes said...

Nice color..tempting recipe..

Ramya said...

this is a very healthy way to have quinoa..

Deeps @ Naughty Curry said...

so pretty the colour is!

Sobha Shyam said...

so colourful and delicious quinoa dear

Join the Just "4" Fun event :)

RAKS KITCHEN said...

I loved this idea, would love to try out and lovely colour!

Laavanya said...

I like quinoa but not the rest of the family.. this version looks so very tasty.

Kai ruchi said...

The color is so pretty and love the recipe!

Vardhini said...

Colorful quinoa, looks inviting.

Vardhini
Event: Fenugreek/Kasuri Methi

Kanan said...

love the color of quinoa. nice recipe. thanks for stopping by my site. I am your new follower now.

Roshni said...

what a way to use quinoa

Rookie Qookie said...

Quinoa seems to be the flavor of the season..have seen them now in many blogs..will try them soon :)

Vanamala Hebbar said...

Very nice recipe

Priya Yallapantula said...

Absolutely loving the color and spices. I have bookmarked it :)

Priya Yallapantula said...

Hi dear, as I mentioned, I had to give it a try and I tried this over the weekend and absolutely loved it. Will try to blog about it soon. Thanks for the recipe :)

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