Quinoa is one of the popular health food. Quinoa is a gluten-free, high protein, the few plant foods, that contain all nine amino acids. This grain is one of the high nutrition rich grain which is recommended by most of the physicians as a substitute for white polished rice. We can make some cool dishes using Quinoa and one such dish is Quinoa Khichdi. We are enhancing the nutrition rich grain by adding veggies and making it much more healthier and tastier. This Quinoa Khichdi is one of the healthy breakfast dish!
Quinoa is a seed. Some of us think it is “Thinai (Foxtail Millet)”. But Quinoa is not “Thinai”. In most of the big supermarkets or grocery shops like Nilgiris we can get Quinoa but I believe it has not become so popular in India and hence very costly. All of our naturally grown millets are nutrition rich but sometimes, if you live abroad, its really tough to get millets in Indian Grocery shops. So, as an alternate to millets and also naturally rich in nutrition, we can start including Quinoa in our routine diet.
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Then, add split urad dal, bengal gram dal, red chili, curry leaves and saute till the dal turns golden brown color
Then add chopped onions and saute the onions till they are translucent. Then add tomato and mix well.
To this now add the mixed vegetables and saute for couple of minutes. Then add 1/2 cup of water and allow the vegetables to cook and become soft and tender
When the vegetables are almost cooked, add 2.5 cups of water and required salt along with sambar powder and mix everything well. Bring the water to boil
Add quinoa little by little and keep stirring. Allow the quinoa to cook in medium flame till almost all the water is absorbed
Now, keep the flame low and cover the pan with lid and allow quinoa to cook till they are soft and allow the moisture is absorbed. The quinoa will get cooked nicely and becomes fluffy and soft
Serve the delicious Quinoa Khichdi with your favorite chutney and enjoy the healthy breakfast!
