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.

Dudhi/Lauki Kofta Curry

Dudhi is such a mild veggie that I usually like to cook it with minimum spices. But last weekend, I found such tender dudhi (bottle gourd) at the Indian store that I splurged and bought extra. After making my regular dudhi chi bhaji and some dudhi theplas, I still had one dudhi leftover. So I decided to make Dudhi/lauki kofta curry.

Here's how I made it:

For the koftas -

1 c. grated dudhi - squeezed to remove as much water as

4 tbsp lightly roasted gram flour

1 tbsp rice flour

1 tsp cumin pwd

1 tsp coriander pwd

1/2 tsp red chilli pwd or to taste

1 tsp salt or to taste

Mix all of the above. For into balls (makes about 25 - 30). Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on a paper napkin.

For the curry -

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped tomatoes

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

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

1/4 tsp turmeric pwd

1 tsp cumin pwd

1 tsp coriander pwd

1/2 tsp red chilli pwd

1/2 tsp garam masala pwd

1/2 tsp Kitchen King masala pwd

1 tsp kasuri methi

1 tsp salt or to taste

2 tsp oil

Heat the oil. Fry the onions till lightly browned. Add the green chilli, ginger, garlic & fry 2 mins. Add the tomatoes and fry for 10 minutes. Add the turmeric, cumin pwd, coriander pwd, red chilli pwd and salt. Fry 2-3 mins. Take off heat. Cool slightly and grind in mixie. Degree of coarseness is as desired. Return the curry to the pan, add the garam masala, kasuri methi & kitchen king masala. Mix well & heat thru. All the koftas and bring to a gentle boil. Serve hot garnished with chopped cilantro. This dish goes well with any kind of Indian bread.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I came across this recipe in the Nov/Dec 09 edition of Vegetarian Times. It claims to be the "Heart Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World" since it contains no butter, eggs or maida. I made these during my daughter's playdate and the little girls (and this big one) enjoyed gobbling it up.

Here's the recipe (makes about 15 cookies):

1.5 cups walnuts

1.5 tbsp canola oil

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 c. oat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 th tsp cardamon pwd

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 c. chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 375F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

- Mix the brown sugar with 1/4 c. water and bring to a boil. Take off heat.

- Add the walnuts, oil and vanilla extract to this. Blend till smooth.

- In a separate bowl, mix the oat flour, baking soda, salt and cardamon pwd. Stir this flour mix into the walnut mix.

- Then add the rolled oats and chocolate chips to the mix.

- Shape the dough into about 15 2 inch balls. Lay them on the baking sheet. Flatten the cookies with the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in water.

- Bake 10 -12 minutes till they begin to brown. Cool 3 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

These Heart Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies are off to the Cakes & Cookies event Spices etc.

Ragi/Nachni chi Ukkad

Ukkad is a steamed snack dish I learnt from my MIL. It is usually made with rice flour. But in the past few years, she has started making it with Ragi/Nachni flour due to its beneficial effects for diabetics. Here's how I make it:

1 cup Ragi/Nachni flour

3 - 4 tsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 clove finely chopped garlic

1 inch ginger root - finely chopped

Few pieces of chopped green chillies per taste

2-3 cups thinned buttermilk - slightly sour goes well for this dish

Salt to taste

Heat the oil. Add the mustard and cumin seeds. When they stop crackling, add the green chillies, ginger and garlic. Reduce heat to medium, add the buttermilk. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Add the nachni/ragi flour and salt. Mix well. Cover and let steam for 5-7 mins, stirring a couple of times in between. The consistency is usually quite thick - you should be able to mould it into balls. But if desired, you can keep it a little thinner too. Serve hot garnished with chopped cilantro.

Ukkad usually needs more oil, you can use lesser quantity in the phodni, then add extra while serving. That is how I make it, since my hubby likes it with oil slightly oozing out.

This Ragi/Nachni ukkad goes to the JFI-Ragi event at MAdhuram's Eggless cooking.

Ragi/ Nachni chi Kadhi

I started making this ragi/nachni chi kadhi when a close family friend came to visit us 2 years back. He was mildly diabetic and had discovered that this kadhi was a natural way to combat the disorder. He brought a packet of nachni flour with him and I would make it very frequently during his stay with us. The recipe was printed on the packet itself. Though I don't make it as often now, it does feature on our menu atleast once a month. Here's how I make it:

1 cup thinned buttermilk

2 tbsp ragi/nachni flour

1/2 tsp ghee

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

pinch of asafotida

few pieces of chopped green chillies

1 tsp coriander-cumin pwd

Salt to taste

Cilantro to garnish

Heat the ghee, add the cumin seeds and green chillies. Fry 2 mins. Reduce heat to low/medium low. Carefully add the buttermilk, stirring continuously. Add the rest of the ingredients. Keep stirring, increase heat and bring to a boil. Take off heat and serve with rice/khichdi or drink as is when slightly cooler.

This Ragi/Nachni chi Kadhi goes to the JFI - Ragi event at Madhuram's Eggless Cooking.