Foodie Workz

Coming back after a long time decided to start on a healthier note with some nutritious twist to the ever preferred idlis... 1 cup jowar 1/2 cup quinoa 1/2 cup whole green moong 1/2 cup idli rice 1/2 cup urad dal 1/4 cup poha 1 tsp fenugreek/methi seeds Start off by soaking the quinoa, whole moong and the jowar.  Basically I soaked these three ingredients double the time that I did for urad dal, rice, poha and methi seeds.  Wash everything thoroughly before starting to grind.  Grind the urad and methi in the idli grinder first till it is smooth and fluffy.  In the meanwhile, grind the quinoa, moong and the jowar individually in the blender jar with very minimal water.  You do not want to add too much water which might end up in a runny batter.  Add the rice to this and let it grind to a coarse consistency.  Now add all the other ingredients and also the ground poha to the above batter and let the grinder run till it is mixed t...

A simple yet a tasty and a nutritious preparation made with the simplest of the ingredients 1/4 cup Red Quinoa 1/4 cup Millet 1/3 cup Chopped onion 1/2 cup finely chopped beetroot 1/2 cup frozen green peas 2 green chilies 1 inch piece of ginger 2 garlic cloves few mint leaves 1 tblsp oil Salt to taste 1/2 to 1 tsp garam masala powder Soak the quinoa and millet together after rinsing them thoroughly.  Take oil, splutter some cumin seeds and add the onions to sauté them for 2 minutes.  Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies which have been crushed to the onions and sauté for another 1/2  a minute.  Add the quinoa and the millet which has been now drained completely and sauté for a minute before adding the vegetables to it.  Add the salt which is about a teaspoon and few mint leaves that have been chopped.  Add water in the ratio of 1:2 which would be 1 cup for the above quantity, garam masala and pressure cook for 5 to 6 whistles....

 Yet another attempt by me to use the quinoa....this time in a very refreshing and nutrititive all time favorite in our household -Salads...Many of us must be knowing about the Mediterranean dish called the "tabbouleh" made of bulgur wheat, finely chopped mint and parsely, tomato and spring onion and seasoned with lemon juice and olive oil.  I have made this tabbouleh before using couscous and since this quinoa resembled more like couscous, I decided to toss this with a few ingredients on hand and also use some romaine lettuce which is always in stock in my refrigerator..... 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa 1/4 cup of cooked black eyed peas  half of a big tomato chopped 1 small carrot grated 2 big leaves of a romaine lettuce trimmed and torn into pieces 1/4 cup of toasted peanuts 2 tsp olive oil 1 tsp lemon juice salt to taste pepper to taste Whisk the last four ingredients together in a small bowl.  Throw  the rest of the ingredients in a big bowl. Toss t...

While the word Upma usually refers to Rawa/Sooji Upma, we have other many varieties using  ingredients like the Semiya, Sago and Poha.  Yet another variety of Upma is the Arisi Upma or Rice Upma which is a very traditional preparation in the Tamil Brahmin households.  It is done by processing the rice and the toor dal to a coarse rawa like consistency.  Usually the rice is powdered and stored for quick use and the toor dal is ground just before making the upma.  These days it is being substitued with the store bought cream of rice (raw) which is readily available.  Growing up, I was really fond of this Upma and could never say enough to it.  It tastes so good with some sambar:-) Anyway, in continuation of my Quinoa experiments and also after the conversation I had with my friend, I realised that Quinoa is a perfect ingredient for this dish....thanks to her, I now have this wonderful recipe which I will never hesitate to do whenever I want a quick fix...

In this health conscious world,every body is trying to incorporate all the good grains into their diet instead of the traditional Rice.  One such grain(or a seed I must say) that has caught every one's attention is QUINOA ( pronounced as kee-n-wah).  This is not new to many of the innovative cooks out there in the blogging as well as the non blogging world.  In fact, I have heard of some friends who eat this like the regular  rice. I have tried Quinoa Upma and Pulao and Puliyogare was my recent attempt.  There are quite a few recipes out there using Quinoa in  idlis, dosas and adais - the typical breakfast dishes of South India.  I too was keen on attempting to do this.  But I was a little skeptical given the fact that my husband does not relish  Quinoa as much as I do.  And getting the kids to eat is going to be out of question. As I was pondering, I decided to include  Quinoa into a variety of Dosa called Venthaya(methi seed)...

1/2 cup of Quinoa cooked and cooled 4 teaspoon of tamarind pulp big handful of roasted peanuts 2 red chillies long variety 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds 1 teaspoon chana dal few curry leaves 1/2 tsp turmeric powder salt to taste jaggery dime sized ball 1/2 teaspoon methi seeds 2 pinches of hing Spice Powder 2 teaspoons dhaniya 2 teaspoons chana dal 1 to 2 red chilli Dry roast the methi seeds till it splutters and changes color. Roast the hing as well. Grind this into a fine powder and keep. Roast the spice powder ingredients in little bit of oil one at a time. Grind this also into a fine powder. Take water in the ratio of 1:2 and cook the quinoa directly on the stove top and let it come to a boil. Transfer this to the pressure cooker and cook as long as you would cook rice. Take a pan with a tablespoon of oil, splutter mustard and add the chana dal. Once it begins to change color add the roasted peanuts, red chillies broken into pieces, curry leaves and finally...