Upma | Oh Taste n See.....

Quinoa Upma – A guest post for Krithi’s Kitchen

Diabetes Friendly, Phase 2, Quinoa, South Beach Diet, Tiffin items, Upma

Mar 162012

I think it has been mentioned so many times in both of our blogs, that it is redundant to mention that Krithi and I are college best friends and have been friends for 13 years now. We also share a love for food and cooking and often times find ourselves chatting about food or topics related to food. Thanks to Krithi for having invited me to do a guest post for her blog and a first one at that.

I have recently switched to a more healthy diet and this dish is a perfect way to meld a healthy meal to comforting Indian food.

A healthy dish – is always determined by the ratio of carbs to protein and the amount of fat in the recipe. Being vegetarian or vegan it is always difficult to get the right amount of protein in your diet. A great solution is ‘Quinoa’ – which is the only grain that has a complete protein – something that is realized easily by people who eat meat, but very difficult in the vegetarian diet. It is an ancient grain, rich in manganese and folate and due to its nutritional value, it is highly recommended for people who have migraine headaches, diabetes and even pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.

Here, I have increased the flavor of the quinoa by toasting it first, which not only adds a nice nutty flavor, but also quickens the cooking process. Here is the recipe..

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 cup diced vegetables – carrots, beans and peas
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 green chillies slit
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp urad dal
1 tsp channa dal
a sprig of curry leaves/cilantro
salt to taste
2 cups water

Method:
In a dry pan, add the quinoa and roast it over medium high heat until you get a nutty aroma and the quinoa is slightly golden brown and toasted. Remove the quinoa onto a plate and put the pan back on the stove. Heat the oil and add mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. Let it splutter and add the green chillies and the curry leaves. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Add the diced vegetables and saute until partly cooked. Add 2 cups water and salt to taste. Let the water come to a boil. Slowly add the still warm quinoa and cook stirring. Let the quinoa cook until all the water is absorbed. Switch off stove. Pop a lid on the pan and let rest for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro (I didn’t have any, but it makes it awesome) and fluff with a fork. Serve as is, or with any chutney as an accompaniment.
Note: Alternately you could also cook quinoa first and then temper with the said ingredients like pulao/fried rice. It tastes fabulous either way.

Verdict: This is a quick and easy recipe, with the nutrition from quinoa and the added veggies. I always substitute rava with quinoa in my upma, and my family hardly notices the difference. You can also substitute quinoa for rice in mixed rice recipes. It tastes really good. I have tried vaangi baath and lemon quinoa and both came out very well.

Sending this to the following events:
1. Bon Vivant Moments #2 – Savory
2. Comfort Food
3. Culinary Concepts – Vegan/Plant Based
4. Healthy Morsels – Pregnancy

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Idly upma

Idly, Upma

Jan 022011

If there is one leftover recipe that everyone loves, this is it. I sometimes specifically make extra idlies to make this the next day. There is something about the little pieces of idly coated in the mild spices and combined with the fried onions. I have found that leaving the idlies in the fridge overnight and pulsing them in a food processor yields a good texture of the upma and is not gummy.

Ingredients:
8 leftover idlies
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 green chillies slit
sprig of curry leaves
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tsp split urad dal
1 tsp channa dal
1/4 tsp cumin seeds

Method:
Pulse the idlies or use your fingers to break up the idlies into granules. Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat. Splutter the mustard and cumin seeds. Add the urad dal and channa dal and fry until golden brown. Add the onions, slit green chillies and curry leaves and fry until golden and slightly caramelized. Add the idlies and saute until thoroughly mixed. Check for seasoning.Remember the idlies, by themselves do have salt. Add salt to taste. Mix and serve hot!

Verdict: I just love the idly upma as is. No side dish necessary. However, my husband enjoys this dish by adding some sugar and mixing it in(right in the pan). He justifies that it caramelizes in the heat. I prefer to keep it savory though. To each their own. Anyway, this is perfectly yummy and comforting.

Sending this to ‘Food Palette – White’ event.

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Sago Tomato Upma

Upma

Jul 272010

I almost always have used Sago only to make dessert, that too payasam. So, when I wanted to make something for ‘Cooking with Seeds – Sago’ event, I wanted to make something savory. I planned on making sago veg cutlets and soaked the sago for a couple of hours yesterday evening. Unfortunately, the sago I had needed more soaking time and I ended up making the cutlets without adding sago. The sago kept soaking overnight. I was half expecting to see white colored mush when I opened the container that contained the soaking sago this morning. Instead, I saw perfectly soft sago pearls that held its shape miraculously. Lesson learnt: Sago(atleast the one I have that I got from India) needs to soak overnight). I decided to make a quick breakfast out of it and decided on trying this tomato baath, since I have quite a lot of summer tomatoes in the fridge. It turned out to be a quick, easy and flavorful dish.

Ingredients:
1 cup sago, soaked overnight
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tsp split urad dal
1 tsp channa dal
1/2 onion finely chopped
2 tomatoes finely chopped
5 green chillies slit
curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Splutter the mustard and add the urad dal and channa dal. When the dals turn brown add the onions, curry leaves and slit green chillies. Saute adding a little bit of salt and the turmeric powder until the onions turn soft and translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute until soft and all the moisture from the tomatoes is cooked out. Add the completely drained sago to this mixture and saute until the sago pearls turn translucent and are cooked completely. Sprinkle the lemon juice and cook until the juice is completely absorbed. Check for seasoning. Serve hot!

Verdict: The sago pearls are like a white canvas, they absorbed the flavor of the tomatoes and the lemon juice beautifully. This dish is amazingly very filling, I could eat only a little bit and remained full for a pretty long time. Very easy breakfast item too.

Needless to say, this goes to the ‘Cooking with Seeds – Sago’ Event originally started by Priya and hosted by Niloufer Riyaz this month.