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Thursday, March 31, 2016

QUINOA BIRYANI / QUINOA VEGETABLE BIRYANI

 How to make  Quinoa biryani?, How to make Quinoa vegetable biryani?

A change of pace from rice. 
Quinoa Biryani is an amazing way to combine veggies and spices to make the protein-rich Quinoa flavorful.

INGREDIENTS:

Quinoa - 1 cup
Mixed vegetables (beans, carrot, shelled peas) - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Curd - 2 teaspoons
Ginger paste - 1/2 teaspoon
Slit green chili - 1 or 2 

Onion  - 1 (optional, I didn't use)
Mint leaves - fistful
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 2 tablespoons
Cinnamon - 1" piece
Cardamom - 2
Cloves - 2
Bay leaf - 1

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp.
Biryani masala - 1 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1/4 teaspoon

Lemon juice -  from half a lemon
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Melted ghee - 2 teaspoons

How to make  Quinoa biryani?, How to make Quinoa vegetable biryani?

METHOD:

Cook quinoa as per the instructions given in the pack. (OR)
Wash quinoa a couple of times, preferably 3 or 4 times. Combine 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water or vegetable stock in a saucepan or vessel. Bring to a boil. Turn heat on low, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Switch off the stove, keep it covered and after 5 minutes, fluff with a fork. Keep ready. 

Meanwhile, in another pan, heat oil in a pan. Add whole spices and saute for a second. Add slit green chillies and ginger paste and saute well. (Ginger-garlic paste can be substituted instead of ginger paste. If using  onions, add chopped onions now).  Now add mint leaves and saute until it wilts. Add chopped vegetables and salt, sprinkle little water and cook it covered until 3/4th done. Add curd and masalas and saute again until done. Now add cooked quinoa and mix gently. Drizzle melted ghee, lemon juice and fluff gently with a fork. Garnish with coriander leaves. 

Quinoa biryani is ready. Serve hot with any raitha of your choice.

PRESSURE COOKER METHOD:

Heat oil in a pressure pan. Add whole spices and saute for a second.
Add slit green chillies and ginger paste and saute well. (Ginger-garlic paste can be substituted instead of ginger paste. If using  onions, add chopped onions now).  Now add mint leaves and saute until it wilts. 

Add chopped vegetables, salt and saute  for a minute. Now add water, curd, masalas and cover the pressure cooker and pressure cook for 1 whistle and then simmer for another five minutes. Turn off the flame. When the pressure subsides, open the pressure cooker / pan, fluff it up with a fork.  Drizzle melted ghee, lemon juice and fluff gently with the fork. Garnish with coriander leaves. 

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

PROSO MILLET SEMIA PAKODA / MILLET VERMICELLI PAKODA

Millet semia pakoda recipe, Millet recipes


INGREDIENTS:

Proso millet semia OR any millet semia - 1 cup
Besan flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Hing - 1/2 tsp.
Finely chopped curry leaves - few
Oil - to deep fry

Millet semia pakoda recipe, Millet recipes

METHOD:

Wash millet sevai well and soak in warm water for 5 minutes. Drain water completely, spread it in a colander. 

Combine all ingredients. Add drained millet semia, sprinkle little water and mix well to a thick batter.

Heat oil. Take a small portion from the batter and drop it gently into the oil. Ensure medium heat of oil and put 7 or 8 in a batch (this depends  on how much oil you heat). Deep fry until golden brown. Repeat the procedure with the remaining batter. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or chutney.


NOTE: Finely chopped onions, green chillies and coriander leaves can be added if necessary.

Friday, March 25, 2016

HERBED CARROT TOMATO SOUP

Herbed carrot tomato soup, Carrot tomato soup recipe, How to make herbed carrot tomato soup?

The combination of carrots and tomatoes merged with herbs makes this soup unique and flavourful.

INGREDIENTS:

Carrot - 1/4 kg.

Tomato - 2
Pepper  - 1/2 tsp.
Corn flour - 1 tsp.
Italian seasoning / Dried Oregano - 2 tsp.
Butter - 3 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Water - 1 cup

METHOD:

Wash carrots well and peel the skin. Discard the head portion.

In a pressure pan, melt 2 tsp. butter, fry the pepper and when it pops, add the carrots, tomatoes, salt and water and cook for 2 whistles. When cool, grind it in a mixie. Strain.

Mix corn flour in little water, pour into the ground mixture and reheat it. If necessary, add some more water.

Garnish with italian herbs / oregano and butter while serving. 

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

QUINOA DRUMSTICK LEAVES ADAI

Quinoa drumstick leaves adai.

Unlike regular adai, this quinoa adai is very light on stomach and easily digestible. Adding  drumstick leaves make this recipe highly nutritive.


INGREDIENTS:

Quinoa - 1 1/2 cup
Toor dhal - 1/2 cup
Gram dhal - 1/2 cup
Urad dhal - fistful
Drumstick leaves - 2 to 3 cups
Dry red chillies - 8 to 10
Curry leaves - 3 sprigs
Hing - a generous pinch
Salt - as per taste
Oil - to drizzle

METHOD:

Separate drumstick leaves from the stem, wash well, keep aside.

Soak quinoa separately. Soak dhals alongwith red chillies separately for 2 hours. Drain the water. Grind quinoa coarsely, add soaked dhals and grind further to a thick coarse paste, sprinkling little water alongwith curry leaves, hing. Add salt and drumstick leaves, mix well. The batter should be slightly thicker and coarse. 


In a pan, pour the batter and spread it from centre. Drizzle oil on sides. Cook until golden brown and crisp and flip to the other side. Goes well with butter and avial( Aviyal recipe is here). Serve hot with molagapodi, jaggery, tomato sauce or any chutney of your choice.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

How to cook Quinoa

Quinoa recipes

My son is in USA and they cook quinoa regularly. My DIL brought this for me when she came here. Nowadays, I substitute this for cereals and replace it for rice. It is quick and easy to cook.

What is quinoa?

Most of you would be familiar with quinoa.  And, to those who want to know about it, Quinoa (pronounced as kinwa / keen-wah) is referred to as a 'supergrain'. It is a grain crop grown for its seeds, cultivated widely in South America. It is actually the seed which we cook. It is high in fiber and has high protein and a complete food in itself. Quinoa is also packed with calcium, potassium, dietary fibre and essential amino acids. The unsaturated fat and the lowest carbohydrates than any other grain makes it a 'superfood'. This makes it an ideal food for diabetics as it is gluten free. It is said to be beneficial for people suffering from migraine headaches also. To know more about quinoa, google about it or see wikipedia. 

How to cook quinoa?

Not keen on quinoa yet? Try it out now. I will post some quinoa recipes in the days to come. And now the basics..

Quinoa recipes

METHOD: 

It is like cooking rice. Wash the seeds a couple of times, preferably 3 or 4 times, otherwise, the grains can be bitter. The ratio is 1 cup of uncooked quinoa to 2 cups of water / vegetable stock. Combine 1 cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water or vegetable stock in a saucepan or vessel. Bring to a boil. Turn heat on low, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Switch off the stove, keep it covered and after 5 minutes, fluff with a fork and serve. Quinoa is perfectly cooked when each grain is translucent and the sprout is visible. Alternatively, just follow the cooking instructions on the pack you buy. It comes out perfect. Quinoa can be pressure cooked  and can be cooked in a rice cooker as well.

What is the tamil name for quinoa and where is it available? 


No tamil name to my knowledge. Quinoa is NOT thinai. Quinoa is seed. Thinai is millet. Thinai is light yellow in colour and looks different from quinoa. Thinai and other millets are beads like grains, whereas quinoa is like a flat seed in appearance. Google and  many people say different tamil names though. This is a foreign crop, and if you are so fond of tamil name, you can say it as 'seemai thinai' (சீà®®ைத்தினை). Seemai in Tamil means 'foreign', thinai in English is 'foxtail millet'. 'Seemai thinai' means foreign crop similar to thinai. But organic shops say 'Quinoa' only. Quinoa is very expensive in India. White quinoa is available in all organic stores in India.  White, red and black quinoa are also available. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

IYENGAR PULIYOGARE GOJJU (KARNATAKA STYLE)

IYENGAR PULIYOGARE GOJJU (KARNATAKA STYLE), HOW TO MAKE IYENGAR PULIYOGARE GOJJU,

Puliyogare is a South Indian rice preparation mixed with tamarind pulp and spices. It is offered to Perumal and served as prasadam in temples. Puli in Tamil is tamarind , Ogare is rice and Gojju is the paste made to mix with rice. Hence it is puliogare gojju. Puliyogare is also termed as Hulianna in some parts of Karnataka, puliyodharai in Tamil Nadu and Pulihora in Andhrapradesh.

Any Iyengar family would have these pulikkachal
(🔗)/ gojju stocked and the recipe is passed down through generations. This Puliyogare gojju / Mysore Iyengar puliyogare gojju will be slightly sweetish unlike the spicy pulikkaachal of TamilNadu(🔗) and slightly different in the way it is prepared. In Karnataka, they add more jaggery, but I reduced the jaggery as I always prefer spicy paste.

INGREDIENTS:

Tamarind - tennis ball size
Crushed jaggery - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste

Home made rasam powder - 5 or 6 heaped tablespoons
Black sesame seeds - 1 tablespoon

Hing - 1/4 tsp.Oil - 3/4 cup

For tempering:
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1/2 tsp.
Dry red chillies - 2 or 3
Peanuts - with skin - 2 tablespoons

NOTE:

Use dark tamarind.

Make the rasam powder with byadge chillies for a bright colour.



In Karnataka, jaggery achu / blocks are used. More jaggery can be added if you like the sweet taste.

There are many variations in rasam powder which will definitely change the taste of the puliogare. If you do not have karnataka style home made rasam powder, MTR rasam powder can also be used. I will post the rasam powder used for this later.

Ensure low heat to avoid burning.

Oil should always float on top.


Temper only while mixing the rice and paste, which gives the crunchy bites and fresh taste.

METHOD:

Soak tamarind in water and extract thick pulp.

Dry roast sesame seeds until it splutters, transfer it to a plate. When cool grind it to powder. Keep aside.

Heat half the oil, add the pulp. Allow it to boil. When it boils add, rasam powder,hing and jaggery. Reduce the heat to medium and stir occasionally. Be careful not to burn the paste.

When slightly thick, add salt, reduce the flame to low and add 
sesame powder. Add the remaining oil. Stir well. Let it boil for few more minutes. Traditional puliyogare gojju is ready.

When cool, store it preferably in glass bottles or glass containers.

When kept at room temperature the gojju stays good for a month (only if the above mentioned oil is added). This paste can be stored in fridge for atleast 6 months.

How to prepare puliyogare:
In a tablespoon of oil, fry the items given in “tempering” to golden brown. Add little of the paste and temperings to the cooked rice. Mix well without breaking the grains. Mysore Iyengar Puliyogare is ready.