Thursday, May 10, 2012

Quinoa Pulao(Pilaf)

quinoapulao

If you are in quest to adapt a low carbohydrate and high protein vegetarian diet, then you should definitely try 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. You can buy Quinoa in your local health food store or you can order online and ordering in bulk works out much cheaper than buying it in store in pounds. When you use quinoa take care to soak and rinse it thoroughly because some of the bitter saponin covering on the grain can still be present even though most quinoa is washed before being sold, you should thoroughly rinse the dry grain until the water runs clear. Quinoa is an every day staple in my house and can be easily substituted for rice in different main dishes, this pulao is normally made with fragrant basmati rice but I substituted it with quinoa. The spices surely gave a lovely flavor and taste to this versatile grain. Do try this and let me know how you liked it.

Preparation Time – 10 Minutes

Cooking Time – 20 to 30 Minutes

Serves – 2 to 3

Ingredients

Quinoa – 1 Cup

Water – 2 Cups

Cinnamon – 1 stick

Clove – 1

Salt – 1/2 Tsp or to taste

Coconut Oil – 1 Tsp

Onion – 1 Sliced into thin slices

Green Beans – Cut into 1 inch pieces 1/3 Cup

Frozen and thawed peas – 1/3 Cup

Cauliflower florets – 2 Cups

Carrots – Peeled and cut into sticks – 1/2 Cup

Bay leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise, coriander seeds, pepper corns, cloves(whole garam masala) –1 Tbsp

Salt – 1/2 Tsp or to taste

Slit green chilies – 2 or to taste

Ghee ( Clarified butter) – 2 Tsp

Cashews – 8 to 10

Raisins – few

Method

1) Soak quinoa for 30 minutes and rinse, drain and add half tsp salt, cinnamon stick and clove and cook on stove top adding 2 cups of water or in a pressure cooker for two whistles. Once the pressure is released, take it out and make sure the quinoa is completely cooled then refrigerate preferably overnight. For pulao, the previous day cooked and refrigerated quinoa works better than the quinoa cooked on the same day.

2) Heat a pan add the coconut oil and the whole garam masala and the slit chilies, sliced onions and saute till the onions become translucent.

3) Now add the chopped beans and saute for few minutes 3 to 5 and after that add the carrots, cauliflower, peas and add salt and slightly cover and cook till tender.

4) Now add the quinoa and give a quick stir and switch off. Heat the remaining ghee and once it is warm add the cashews and fry till golden. Now add the raisins and heat till the raisins swell and add this cashew, raisin ghee to the cooked veggies and quinoa. Combine and serve with some raita.

quinoapulao2

Events

Sending this to Julie’s Show me your HITS – Iron rich foods an event started by Sangee of Spicy Treats.

21 comments:

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Very nutritious and delicious preparation. Clicks are excelent

Deepa

Shobha said...

Very nutritious..I made it recently too.

Srimathi said...

Quinoa in any form of pulao is awesome.

radha said...

Looks great. And healthy.

Spice up the Curry said...

very healthy yet delicious looking pulao. great recipe

Julie said...

Quite healthy n rich..yummy yum pulao with quinoa:-)

Join me in the ONGOING EVENTS-"Ginger & Pepper Corns/powder(EP Series-May) ,
Show me Your HITS 'Iron Rich Foods'
ERIVUM PULIYUM

Vidhya said...

Quinoa in pulao form sounds and looks tempting.

Hema said...

Very healthy and the pilaf looks colorful..

Jayanthi said...

Oh...I'm so happy to stumble upon your space and seeing quinoa pulav I'm all excited. I'm one of those quinoa fanatics...so imagine to see someone blogging about quinoa. Love the dish totally. BTW, check out the WTML event & giveaway happening at my space.

Swathi Iyer said...

pulao with quinoa is healthy and delicious Sadhana.

Priya said...

Beautiful and definitely healthy pulao Sadhana,am planning to make some soon..

Kaveri Venkatesh said...

Quinoa is something which I'm trying to lay my hands on..I don't think it's still available in the Indian markets. But the pic looks totally delicious.

SYF & HWS - Fennel Seeds

Priti said...

Healthy n delish ..gud one

Deeps @ Naughty Curry said...

i have heard of the many health benifits of quinoa.. always wanted to try it. looks wonderful

maha said...

Beautiful clicks n yummy dish....

Sangeetha said...

very nutritious n delicious pilaf, nice idea to use quinoa!!

Akila said...

wow so healthy and yummy...
Dish Name Starts With L
Learning-to-cook
Regards,
Akila

faseela said...

superb..........

Jay said...

innovative & healthy dish
Tasty Appetite

Prathima Rao said...

Healthy & tasty...
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner

Purabi Naha said...

Oh wow, what a stunning picture! The recipe is equally mouth-watering. Shall try this recipe: saving this for the weekend!!
http://cosmopolitancurrymania.blogspot.com

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