Quinoa Idlis

Until this week, I had practically given up trying to make idli batter at home. After many many attempts to get my batter to ferment, I had finally concluded that this was beyond me. I had pinned the blame on my mixie. People that heard me lament about this consoled me saying that I am too calm & mild mannered, that the batter rises well only for hot headed people!

So when I tried out these quinoa idlis, I had assumed that I would fail once again. But imagine my surprise and elation when my batter actually fermented well and the idlis turned out soft and fluffy. That too on a record breaking cold day here in the Seattle area!

The basic recipe for these Quinoa Idlis is from Sumadhura. I halved the quantities of the ingredients, which yielded me about 20 idlis. The other change I made was to soak the Quinoa, Brown Rice and Udad Dal together.

Here are a few tricks I used to coax my batter to ferment (not really sure which one did the trick):

• I blended the ingredients little by little, starting with 1/2 cup and adding another 1/2 cup at a time.
• Used just 2 - 3 tbsp of water for each batch to blend.
• Pre-heated the oven at minimum temperature, then turned it off and kept the batter in it.
• Gave my batter more than the standard "overnight" time to rise. Where earlier I have thrown away batter if it had not risen when I first checked it in the morning, this time I let it sit some more. I would say it took about 15 hrs.
• When my batter had not started rising after an overnight's rest, I filled a large bowl with hot water (steaming, not boiling) and placed the vessel with the batter in it. Maybe the fermentation had already started by then, but this seemed to speed it up quite a bit.

I will definitely be trying out more idlis from now on, using all of these tricks. So if anyone out there is having a hard time with idli batters like me, do not be disheartened.

We had these healthy Quinoa - Brown Rice Idlis for Thanksgiving Day brunch with coconut chutney and sambar. Certainly worth being thankful for! As for the taste, please note that they do have a distinct quinoa flavor, ever so slight bitterness, but went down very well with hubby and me.

These Quinoa-Brown Rice Idlis go to the CWF - WG - Quinoa event at Priya's Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes.

I would also like to send a couple of archived dishes for this event.

Quinoa Upma

Quinoa Soup

Before I end this post, I have a quick tip for including Quinoa in your everyday meal. For the past several months, whenever I cook plain brown rice in the pressure cooker, I add quinoa to it. For example, with 1/2 cup brown rice, I add about 1/4 cup quinoa, rinse both together under cold running water, add about 2 cups water and pressure cook it for 4 whistles. The quinoa gets well blended with the rice and picky eaters will not notice any difference in the taste.

Quinoa Upma

This Quinoa upma makes for a healthy, delicious breakfast or llight meal dish. The basic recipe is from the Moosewood restaurant's cookbook. Here's how I make it:

1 c. Quinoa - rinsed in cool water using a fine mesh strainer & drained

1 tbsp oil

1/2 cup diced onions

1 tsp ginger paste

1 chopped green chilli (more or less depending on heat level desired)

1/2 tsp turmeric pwd

1 tsp cumin pwd

1 tsp coriander pwd

1/4 tsp red chilli pwd or to taste

3/4 - 1 tsp salt per taste

2 c. water

1/4 c. frozen green peas

1/4 c. red beans or any other per preference

Heat the oil and saute the onions on medium high heat for 5 mins. Add the ginger paste, chopped green chillies & quinoa. Stir for a minute. Add the turmeric, cumin, coriader & red chilli pwds. Stir for another minute. Add the water & salt. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and cook for anout 10 mins. Then add the peas and beans. Cover and cook another 10 mins. until water is absorbed.

Fluff with a fork before serving. Garnish with chopped cilantro if desired.

Updating this post to send it to the CWF - WG - Quinoa event at Priya's Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes.

Quinoa Veggie Soup

This soup is also from an issue of the Vegetarian Times. I have been browsing and trying out a lot of their recipes recently. Here's how I made it:

1/2 cup onion - diced (the original recipe had red onion but I used sweet onion as thats what I had on hand)
1 cup veg. broth
1/4 cup quinoa
1 cup canned diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
1/2 cup chopped spinach - fresh or frozen (I used frozen)
1/2 cup chopped mixed veggies (again I used a frozen mix)

Coat a saucepan with cooking spray. Heat on medium. Saute the onions for 5 mins till soft. Add the broth and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Add the quinoa. Cover and simmer on medium for 10 to 15 mins. Then stir in the canned tomatoes, spinach and veggies. Simmer another 10 mins. Season with salt and pepper. I also added a dash of Tabasco hot sauce.

Since this soup is not very liquidy due to the addition of quinoa and veggies, it made for a good lunchbox item for me. It was a good & delicious change from the usual canned soups (Amy's organic ones that I often carry to work) and leftover lunches I have. The flavor somehow got enhanced when I had it for lunch. It struck me that this was the first time I actually cooked something specially for my lunchbox!

The Quinoa Veggie soup goes to the Soup 'n Juice event at Mom's Recipes.



Updating this post to send it to the CWF - WG - Quinoa event at Priya's Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes.