Red quinoa & green beans medley!

I was late in joining the quinoa cult- though late, I am glad that I joined :)- The good thing is, working with quinoa is super easy and you can be really creative with it. It works great with Indian flavors and there isn't any spice I haven't tried with Quinoa. To be honest, when I purchased it for the first time I had no idea what to do with it. I kept staring at the packet for a long time...I cursed myself for the impulsive purchase and googled all the recipes that can be found on Quinoa. Finally, I decided to boil it and make it into a salad. I boiled it, mixed it with cucumber and tomatoes and made it into a salad- I will be lying if I wrote that I loved that damn dish. It was a disaster. Those were my initial days with Quinoa- Now, I can work magic with Quinoa and anyone who doesn't like quinoa will think twice if they tried it my way (with Indian spices).

Ingredients-

2 small cups red quinoa

1 cup green beans- 

1/2 cup carrots

1 medium sized onion (sliced)

1 tomato chopped finely

1 tsp cumin seeds

curry leaves- chopped

salt according to taste

asafoetida powder (dash of it will do- omit if you want)

chopped green chilli pieces (2 green chillies used)

2-3 tbsp grated coconut

1 tsp hot madras curry powder (alternatively, you can work with garam masala)

How did I make it?

Bring some water to boil and put your quinoa in it. Allow the quinoa to cook for 15 to 20 minutes (till it is soft and well cooked). Once your quinoa is cooked, keep it aside. In a separate wok, heat oil and add cumin seeds & dash of asafoetida powder. Allow the cumin seeds to sputter. Add onions and green chilli pieces, fry them till translucent. Toss in the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Mix green beans, carrots and toss well. Allow the vegetables to cook and become tender. Add salt, grated coconut, curry powder and curry leaves. Mix it thoroughly by adding a bit of oil. Blend in the cooked quinoa to this mixture. Cook for five minutes on a medium flame. Garnish with coriander leaves!

Flavorful quinoa!

It is small, red and very intimidating to look at! It will look at you from the package and dare you to come up with something innovative...Once you get to know it, you will be humbled by its sheer goodness- that's quinoa in a nutshell for me :) I spiked it up with some Indian flavors- Check out!

Ingredients-

Red quinoa- 2 cups

Bell peppers- 1/2 cup (preferably yellow one- color combination works great with red quinoa)

Broccoli (1/2 cup)

Onion - 1 medium sized (sliced)

Corriander leaves - chopped

Cumin seeds

Dry red chilli piece- broken in half (alternatively, you can use chopped green chillies)

2-3 tbsp grated coconut

Salt according to taste

Sambar powder (1/2 tsp)- completely optional (alternatively, you can use garam masala, curry masala powders)

** sambar powder is a spicy powder consisting of lentils, corriander seeds, mustard, black pepper, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds** (you will get it ready made from any Asian grocery shop)

Preparation-

Bring some water to boil and put the quinoa in. Allow the quinoa to cook for 15 minutes or until the water is fully absorbed. Keep it aside. In a seperate wok heat some oil. Add cumin seeds and allow them to sputter. Add the red chilli pieces and sliced onions. Fry them till they are translucent. Toss in the bell peppers, broccoli. Cook for few minutes before adding sambar powder and salt. Add the cooked quinoa and cook all the ingredients for a few minutes. For the finishing touch add the grated coconut and corriander leaves.