Name: Quinoa Upma (VEGAN & Gluten free)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: South Indian
Ingredients: Quinoa 1/2 cup; Carrot (finely chopped) 1/4 cup; Green pea 1/4 cup; Bell pepper (finely chopped) 1/4 cup; Tomato (finely chopped) 1/4 cup; Green chili 1 no.; Onion (medium) (finely chopped) 1 no.; Ginger (grated) 1/2 inch; Cumin seed 1/2 tsp; Mustard seed 1/2 tsp; Chana dal 1/2 tsp; Cashew nuts 4-5 no.; Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp; Curry leaf 1 sprig; Oil 1 tbsp; Salt as needed; Water as needed; Coriander leaf (finely chopped) 1-2 tbsp

Home » July 2020

29 July 2020

Quinoa Upma (Vegan & Gluten free)

an easy and quick twist to the Indian traditional breakfast, upma by using the super-food Quinoa

The super-food, Quinoa :

Quinoa (pronounced keenwah or kinuwa) is one of the world's most popular health foods. This is a whole grain that is rapidly growing in popularity due to its many health benefits. Quinoa is completely gluten-free, high in protein and one of the few plant foods that contains sufficient amounts of all nine essential amino acids. Isn't that much interesting ! The sweet and nutty flavor, delicate texture have made quinoa a popular substitute for starchier pasta and rice.

The most common quinoa colors found across the world are white, red and black. Quinoa seeds are coated with saponins, which are the chemicals designed to protect plants from diseases caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses (according to the Environmental Protection Agency). Saponins have a bitter taste. So quinoa should be rinsed thoroughly in cold water before proceeding to cook. However, some brands these days are selling already rinsed kind of quinoa which makes the above step easier.

Quinoa cooks faster than most whole grains, taking hardly 15-18 minutes. And also do you know, unlike some grains those tend to dry out when cooled, quinoa maintains a pleasant chewy texture when served warm or at room temperature. Quinoa can be incorporated into our diet in a variety of ways like from being prepared as a breakfast porridge to being an addition to salads or prepared like a pilaf and lots more. With its subtle flavor and fluffy texture, this whole grain is super easy to spice up with different flavors or other ingredients.

Well why I am discussing about the super grain, Quinoa here because today's post is related to that as Quinoa Upma, hence this upma is completely gluten free.

Gluten free Upma that too using Quinoa !

Yes, Our humble Indian breakfast dish Upma is here with a twist.

The event related to this post :

Well this time our fortnight foodie group named as Healthy Wellthy Cuisines is decided to select 91th theme : 'Breakfast Series' and is suggested by Preethi di. She is a wonderful person and a versatile food blogger. Do check out her space for many simple yet delicious recipes. Her Brown rice and Ragi Vermicelli Upma is one of my bookmarked recipe from her blog. Well coming back to theme she suggested to make some dishes which we usually opt for breakfast, So I have come up with this Quinoa Upma & contributed for the theme. Here are some similar recipes shared by our Healthy Wealthy Group members Poha Idli By Jayashree, Vegan sandwich Dhokla by Vanitha Bhat, Milk Bread by Sujata Roy, Paneer Pyaaz Paratha by Shalu Jain, Gujarati Rice Khichu by Poonam, Lentil & Spring Onion Pancake by Preethi Prasad.

And, yes !!!

If you like the recipe shared here and give a try at your place then do share in INSTAGRAM by tagging #firsttimercook. I would be so happy to see and surely share in my INSTA stories 😊😊

Now let’s go through how to make "Quinoa Upma" at home 👇

: Recipe Card :

Quinoa Upma (VEGAN & Gluten free)

Author: sasmita

Prep time: 15 MCook time: 20 MTotal time: 35 M

an easy and quick twist to the Indian traditional breakfast, upma by using the super-food Quinoa

Ingredients:

Quinoa 1/2 cup
Carrot (finely chopped) 1/4 cup
Green pea 1/4 cup
Bell pepper (finely chopped) 1/4 cup
Tomato (finely chopped) 1/4 cup
Green chili 1 no.
Onion (medium) (finely chopped) 1 no.
Ginger (grated) 1/2 inch
Cumin seed 1/2 tsp
Mustard seed 1/2 tsp
Chana dal 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts 4-5 no.
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Curry leaf 1 sprig
Oil 1 tbsp
Salt as needed
Water as needed
Coriander leaf (finely chopped) 1-2 tbsp

Instructions:

Take all the quinoa in a fine strainer and wash properly under running water several times.
Keep the strainer aside over a bowl to drain water completely from the quinoa.
Now heat oil in a pan / kadhai.
Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and allow to splutter.
Then add chana dal, cashews and saute till golden in color.
Put grated ginger, curry leaves, green chilies and chopped onions.
Stir and saute till onion becomes translucent.
Then add chopped bell pepper and saute a bit.
Next add chopped carrots, green peas and again saute for 1-2 minutes.
Add turmeric powder, salt and mix everything well.
Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes or till the veggies are half done, stirring on between.
Now add chopped tomatoes and all the drained quinoa.
Mix and fry for 1 minute over low-medium heat.
Next pour 1 cup water and allow to boil over high heat.
Then lower the heat, cover the pan.
Allow to cook till all the water gets absorbed.
Turn off heat and finally add chopped coriander leaves and give a gentle fluff using a fork.
Serve the quinoa upma warm as it is ( I like this way) or drizzle some lemon juice on top or along with any favorite pickle / chutney !

Notes:

For cooking quinoa perfectly (fluffy texture), the ratio of water to quinoa has to be 2:1. For a soft texture, add 1 & 1/4 cup water for 1/2 cup of quinoa. Select the vegetables here according to own preference. Adjust the spiciness, I have not added chili powder here. One can add this too. Along with cashews, some peanuts can be added in the tempering part.

https://www.firsttimercook.com/2020/07/quinoa-upma-vegan-gluten-free.html

vegetarian, healthy breakfast, quick recipe, Quinoa Upma, Diary free, Peas, Carrot, Cashew, Chana dal, Healthy breakfast, One pot meal

Breakfast, Vegan, Gluten free, Quinoa, South Indian Upma,

South Indian

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27 July 2020

Instant Tomato Rava Dosa without Maida and Atta (VEGAN)

a perfectly crisp Instant dosa having tomato flavors, without using wheat flour (atta) & all purpose flour (maida)

Dosa and its varieties :

Dosa is a thin, crispy crepe made with ground rice and lentils. This is a much popular breakfast / snack option from southern part of Indian subcontinent. Any Indian is surely familiar with the dosa which is either homemade or even get at the Indian restaurants. To make dosa, one just need the right type of lentils and rice and a blender to make the batter. The most important part about making dosa at home is fermenting the batter. One can get really creative with the kind of fillings in the dosa and accordingly the dosa varries as masala dosa, paper dosa, ragi dosa, shezwan dosa, neer dosa, pavbhaji dosa, onion dosa, oats dosa and lots more. Dosa is usually served with Sambar, a chutney like coconut chutney, onion chutney, tomato chutney etc.

Apart from this, there is a category of making dosa in an Instant way, means there is no need of any fermentation. I have already shared few days back an Instant Rava Dosa. In this batter, I have used semolina along with rice flour and all purpose flour and here the batter is much thin as compared to traditional rice-based dosa batter which yields crisp and flaky dosa. One more Instant dosa is also there where I had given a twist of spinach and hence the name is Spinach Rava Dosa. This spinach rava dosa is a healthy one since made of wheat flour ( I have used atta /wheat flour instead of maida / APF) and the goodness of spinach. Also this is prepared with a stuffing of potato mixture.

Well today's post is similar to the above INSTANT dosa category but with a twist of Tomato this time. So the name of the dosa is Instant Tomato Rava Dosa. Interesting part here is this Instant dosa is prepared without using any all purpose flour or wheat flour.

How one can make this Tomato Rava Dosa ?

To get the tomato flavor in this dosa, first a smooth fine paste is prepared using some tomatoes, ginger, cumin seeds, green chilies. Into this paste semolina aka sooji / rava, rice flour, few chopped onions & coriander leaves, cumin seeds, chopped green chilies are added. Everything is mixed by adding water little by little to get a batter of running consistency (thinner than the regular dosa batter). Then the batter has to be poured on a hot pan or tawa from a certain height (3-4 inch height over the pan), not like spreading the batter as of the normal dosa batter. This pouring method helps in the netted texture of the dosa. Few oil drops are then drizzled on top of the dosa and allowed to cook over medium heat till it turns golden (no need to flip and cook the other side in this dosa). Voila !!! the crispy tomato dosa is ready to serve now.

Dietary note :

✔ Vegetarian & Vegan
✔ No maida / atta
✔ Festive friendly (skip the onion addition)
✔ Breakfast & Snack option
✔ Instant dosa ( no fermentation is needed)

✔ Dairy free
✔ No rice & lentils dosa

💡FEW TIPS TO MAKE THIS TYPE OF DOSA PERFECTLY :

The batter should be very thin as of running consistency for getting crispy dosa.
Crispiness of dosa depends upon the consistency of the batter. So thinner the batter, crispier the dosa.
Each time just before making the dosa, stir the batter very well in the mixing bowl and then only take ladle full of batter from it.
The batter tends to get thick, so add water as well as salt to the batter for the needful consistency.
The pan or tawa should be hot enough while pouring the batter over it.
Prefer to use non-stick pan to make this rava dosa, so that no oil greasing is needed. But if you are using the cast iron tawa, then before pouring the batter first grease the tawa with oil well.
Always cook this rava dosa over medium heat instead of high heat.

Serving suggestion :

As the name suggest this is a quicker version of South Indian most popular breakfast, Dosa. Although coconut chutney and sambar are the most popular side dishes for dosa, still it can also be served in a variety of ways. This instant version tomato dosa is best opted for quick breakfast or even evening snack idea. Chutneys like tomato chutney, coriander chutney, peanut chutney etc are usually preferred to have with this dosa. Not only kids, all age group enjoy this crisp dosa. The whole process is super simple and easy to make within few times. So do make this Instant Tomato Rava Dosa which needs no fermentation !