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Quinoa has only recently become widely available and well known in many places, but it has quickly become popular with healthy eaters due to its great body benefits. Mostly treated as a grain (although it is actually a seed), quinoa can be used in the place of pasta, wheat or oats for an extremely nutritious meal. Quinoa, like most grains, is high in fibre, making it great for the digestive system, but perhaps its best attribute is that it is one of the few plant sources of high quality protein, containing all eight essential amino acids. On top of this, quinoa is a great source of nutrients including magnesium, manganese, iron, calcium, potassium and several B vitamins.
We also came across Quinoa recently, when we visited an Indian restaurant near our home. We found Quinoa puloa, we didn’t know what it is and when we asked the restaurant manager, he told us about its health benefits. Though we didn’t try it in the restaurant, I was curious about it and searched about it, So I tried it myself. Got a packet of Quinoa from the Ancient Harvest brand, here it goes…..
Ingredients:
Quinoa : 2 cups
Onion : 1/2 cup sliced
Carrot: 1/2 cup
French Beans : 1/2 cup
Corn : 1/2 cup
Green peas : 1/2 cup
Oil : 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds : 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon Stick : 1 small
Cloves : 3
Star Anise : 1
Bay Leaf : 1
Salt : 1 tablespoon
Black Peppercorns : 1 tablespoon (powdered)
Method:
Wash the quinoa, and soak it in water for 30 mins.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Once it is hot, add the cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise, cumin seeds, once they crackle, add the bay leave. After a min, add the sliced onion, let it turn translucent. Next add all the veggies , let them get cooked. Next add Black peppercorn powder. Optionally you can add garam masala powder also. When the veggies are 70% cooked, add 4 cups of water (1:2 ratio of quinoa: water) and add salt.
Drain the water from quinoa and mix it with the veggies. Stir well and close the pan with lid. Cook it in slow mode for 30 mins. There would be an outer ring formed from the quinoa seed, which looks beautiful. You can garnish with cut cilantro leaves.
Enjoy this super food 🙂
Malar's Kitchen 