Quinoa pongal with Minty Coriander chutney

Pongal is one of the usual breakfast in Tamilnadu (one of the South Indian states). I have to admit I used to hate pongal, the reason being it was just cooked rice and split mung bean with loads and loads of clarified butter (ghee) and pepper. My mum always had to make something else cos I was adamant not to eat it. Since last May/so, I have reduced my intake of rice substituting it with world's yummiest grain, Quinoa :) Came back from work yesterday and all I wanted was quinoa and lentils. I was going through my paati's (granny) recipes I saw a non-vegan version of pongal. The Einstein part of my brain was so active I decided to make vegan quinoa pongal.

If you have a pressure cooker, this is really easy to make. Else, use a heavy-lid pan to make it.

Ingredients- Serves 3 (on a portion control diet)

• Quinoa-3/4 cup


• Split yellow mung bean-3/4 cup


• Cashews-10


• Curry leaves-10


• Pepper-coarsely ground-3 Tbsp (lesser if you want less spicier effect)


• Mustard seeds (2 tsp) Cumin seeds (1 tsp)


• Ginger grated- 1.5 Tbsp


• Rice bran oil-2 Tbsp


• Asafoetida-a pinch


• Turmeric- 1 tsp


• Salt-to taste

Method:

• Pressure cook/Cover and cook quinoa and lentils with 3.5-4 cups of water.


• Next step is to season it. In a pan, add oil,heat it,add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric, cashews, wait for it to be about brown, add ginger and pepper and pour it over the quinoa and lentil mixture.


• Add salt and mix them well. Serve with chutney

Minty Coriander chutney

Ingredients:

• Mint leaves-2 handfuls


• Coriander leaves-2 handfuls


• Ginger-a small piece


• Coconut (fresh/frozen)-1/4 cup


• Garlic-one pod


• Tamarind paste-1/2 tsp


• Oil-a tsp


• Cumin seeds-1 tsp


• Curry leaves-7


• Green chili-1


• Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp

Method

• In a pan, add mint and coriander leaves fry them until they shrink under heat, turn off the flame,let it cool and blend it with green chili, ginger, garlic, coconut, tamarind, salt.


• In a pan, add oil, heat it and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cury leaves and pour them over the chutney

Vietnamese Rice paper roll

Vietnamese rice paper roll with coco-nut dipping sauce

Any time I walk past the Vietnamese takeaway shop in a food mall, I peek in to find out if there are any vegan rolls with just veges, it's hard to find one. So time to make it myself. I was walking through the health isle in Coles, where I found this gluten-free rice paper. Each paper comes to around 27 calories.



Ingredients for filling

• Carrot, cucumber-julienne- 1 handful each


• Snowpea sprout leaves, Sprouts


• Boiled lentils


• Tofu-1 handful (Julienne them and fry with Mexican seasoning in 1tsp oil)


• Onion-1/4 chopped length-wise

Method

• It is better to mix all the ingredients and keep them ready.


• Wet rice paper in warm water and place them on damp paper towel. Place  the filling in and roll them based on the instructions on the rice paper packet.

Coco-nut dipping sauce

Ingredients 

• Garlic-1 pod


• Raw almonds-12, Roasted peanuts-10, chia seeds-1/2 tsp, sunflower seeds, pumpkin kernels-1 tbsp each


• Caster sugar-1 tsp, 1 dry red chilli, 1/4 tsp tamarind paste, salt-to taste


• Light coconut milk- 3 Tbsp


• Onion-1/2 chopped fine


• Oil-1 tsp

Method

• Blend all the  ingredients in the first 4 bullet points together into a very very fine paste


• In a pan, add 1 tsp oil, add onion fry well, add the blended paste, water and let it boil for a couple of minutes.


• Take it off heat and use it as a dipping sauce :)


• This is all healthy fat, but make sure it is just a dipping sauce.

Serves:4 people

Tomato Sesame seed Dip

Tomato Sesame seed dip/chutney

 Ingredients

• Tomato-1.5 sliced


• Sesame seeds-2 tsp


• Garlic-2 pods


• Green chilli-1; Dry chilli-2


• Mustard seeds, white urad dal, cumin seeds-1 tsp each


• Curry leaves-one strand;


• Asafoetida/Hing-1 pinch


• Coconut-1 tbsp


• Onion-1/2 finely chopped


• Rice bran oil-2 tsp


• Salt- to taste

Method

• In a sauce pan, dry toast sesame seeds


• In the pan, add 1tsp oil and then when it is hot, add white urad dal and cumin seeds. Wait until urad dal turns red and take it off heat and add to sesame seeds


• In the pan, with the remaining oil, fry green chilli, red chilli,garlic and tomatoes until tomatoes are cooked and let it cool to be blended.


• In a blender, add the seeds and urad dal and once they blend, add the tomatoes, chilli and coconut and blend them all together


• In the pan, add 1tsp oil, wait for it to heat,then add mustard seeds, hing, wait for the cracking sound, add curry leaves, fry onions with salt and add the blended paste and mix them all before transferring the contents to container.

Serves:2 people