South Indian Quinoa Feast

I was talking to Celeste(Honk a vegan blog) about quinoa and I have been craving for south Indian food. So was time to put 1 and 1 together and create magic. Made coconut quinoa and lemon quinoa with green peas coconut stir fry. :) Thom(Don't Switch off the light blog) has been such an inspiration to make Lemon quinoa.

Coconut Quinoa

Ingredients:

• Coconut-1/4 cup-fresh/frozen(thawed)(not desiccated one)


• Cooked white quinoa-1 cup


• Curry leaves-1 sprig


• Mustard seeds-1 tbsp


• Split, de-husked black lentils (ask for split urad dal in indian grocery)-1 tsp (OPTIONAL)


• Asafoetida-1 pinch


• Cashews-6/7 (halved) (OPTIONAL)


• Green chili-1 [or more for spicy option-My lips were on fire today as I accidentally bit one :( ]


• 2 tsp rice bran oil


• Salt-to taste

Method:

• In a pan, add oil, once very hot, add mustard seeds, asafotida, cashews, wait until it is about to turn brown, add curry leaves, green chili, and urad dal, once it browns, add quinoa, salt and coconut and mix them until well mixed.


• Serve with any spicy curry :)

Lemon Quinoa (Inspired by: Thom)

Ingredients:

• Lemon juice-to taste


• Cooked white quinoa-1 cup


• Curry leaves-1 sprig


• Mustard seeds-1 tbsp


• Turmeric-1 pinch


• Peanuts-6/7 (halved) (OPTIONAL)


• Green chili-1


• 2 tsp rice bran oil

Method:

• In a pan, add oil, once very hot, add mustard seeds, peanuts, wait until it is about to turn brown, add curry leaves, green chili, and urad dal, once it browns, add quinoa, salt and mix them until well mixed. Take it off heat and add lemon juice to your taste. Quinoa is extra sensitive to lemon so I suggest you add them little by little and do a taste test.


• Serve with any spicy curry. Thanks for the inspiration Thom :)

Coconut green peas stir fry

Ingredients:

• Coconut-1/4 cup-fresh/frozen(thawed)(not desiccated one)


• Green peas-1 cup


• Curry leaves-1 sprig


• Mustard seeds-1 tbsp


• Asafoetida-1 pinch


• Chili powder-1 tsp


• 1 tsp rice bran oil


• Salt-to taste

Method:

• In a pan, add oil, once very hot, add mustard seeds, asafoetida,  curry leaves, green peas,salt, chili powder and fry until soft, add coconut and fry until coconut turns slightly brown. Goes well with both the recipes above :)

Proxy Aloo Parata - healthier alternative

Its been a while since I had used potatoes in my food. I use it as a occasional treat. I cooked chickpea and had boiled few potatoes along with it.

Ingredients for stuffing: 

• Boiled potatoes -2 peeled,cooled and mashed


• Salt-as needed


• Chili powder- a tbsp


• Asafoetida- a pinch


• Cumin seed powder/seeds-1 tsp


• Coriander leaves- finely chopped-3 tbsp


• Amchur powder - a tsp(for sourness)


• Mountain bread (the 70KCal flat bread you get in Coles/Woolworths)

Method:

• Mix them all together and this is the stuffing for aloo parata


• Tear the bread into two, add 2 Tbsp of stuffing in between and microwave for 30 sec.

 

Palak Tofu / Palak Channa

Palak Tofu/Channa is a high protein blessing for vegans :) When I was in India, I used to go to this North Indian restaurant and became best friends with the chef there :)  When I left India to come to Sydney, he had given me a copy of these 126 recipes which are his mum's :) I just pulled it out today, so from today on, I am going to get his recipes veganized :)

Caution: This recipe involves loads of blending.

Ingredients: 

• Baby spinach leaves - 250 gms pack


• Green chilli-1


• Onion-1 cubed


• Tomato-1.5 cubed


• Ginger-1/2" piece


• Garlic- 3 pods


• Raw Cashews soaked in water- 15gms (This is the best cream substitute)


• Clove-2, Cinnamon-1"piece, Cumin seeds-1 tsp, Bay leaf -1


• Oil-2 tbsp


• Organic tofu- 250 gms- water drained and cubed- fork pierced (Chilli powder -a tsp to fry the tofu)/ a cup of cooked chickpea for palak channa


• Chilli powder, coriander powder,garam masala-1 tsp each

Method:

• First Step is to process the spinach. In a pan,add washed spinach and sprinkle water and fry for a couple of mins until it is about to be cooked completely. Take it out and wash it under cold water (it is to retain the awesome green color of the spinach-bit of bragging but have a look at my pics-That's the green you need :P). Add bit of salt and blend into a smooth paste


• Second Step is to make the cashew cream- Blend cashews into a smooth paste


• Third step is to make the curry base. In a pan, add oil, add clove, cinnamon, cumin seeds, once it splutters add onion, green chilli, ginger and garlic and fry until onions are transparent (not brown). Add in tomatoes and the spice powders and fry until tomatoes are soft. Take it off heat and allow it to cool and blend into smooth paste.


• Fourth Step is to fry the tofu. In a pan, add a tsp of oil, add chilli powder and add tofu cubes and fry them until hrown on all sides. This is to be done in parallel with adding cream in the next step otherwise tofu will get really tough


• Time to put them all together. In a pan, add the curry base, let it boil for like 2 mins and add the spinach in. Mix them well. Add more salt and add the cashew cream.Close the pan and let all the flavors infuse together for 5 mins.


• You could add cooked chickpea or Tofu, close and cook for few more mins and serve hot

Mexican Food Feast

Sundal

I made quinoa mujadara yesterday. You know how you eat something again and again,  and you are like 'Man, why cant I eat something else'. I reached that state with quinoa. I promised myself not to eat quinoa for like 2 days. I love it so much that I cant live without it. Anyways,  I had some leftover lentils, decided to make 'sundal'. A popular dish in south India - it is a lentil stir fry with coconut and onions. The main seasoning for a sundal is asafoetida. It is an awesome spice with so many benefits.  It boosts metabolism, Google for more benefits :) . To make sundal, you need boiled lentils. Not dal consistency but the ones that can be picked out individually like chickpeas,  black eyed beans etc. I used the flat brown lentils you use for mujadara.

Ingredients: 

• A cup of lentils - boiled


• Black Mustard seeds-1 and 1/2 tsp


• 10 curry leaves


• 1 tsp rice bran oil


• Salt-to taste


• Asafoetida- 2 pinches


• Coconut-3-4 tbsp


• Red chilli powder- 1 tsp(vary this based on your spice limit)

Method:

• In a pan, heat 1 tsp oil, add mustard seeds, once it pops, add curry leaves, asafoetida. If you like taste of onions, you could add onions now and fry them with it.


• Add the boiled lentils, chilli powder, salt, coconut and mix them together.


• Awesome as an evening snack. You could omit coconut if you don't want it. But then, onions must be added then.

Sundal

I made quinoa mujadara yesterday. You know how you eat something again and again,  and you are like 'Man, why cant I eat something else'. I reached that state with quinoa. I promised myself not to eat quinoa for like 2 days. I love it so much that I cant live without it. Anyways,  I had some leftover lentils, decided to make 'sundal'. A popular dish in south India - it is a lentil stir fry with coconut and onions. The main seasoning for a sundal is asafoetida. It is an awesome spice with so many benefits.  It boosts metabolism, Google for more benefits :) . To make sundal, you need boiled lentils. Not dal consistency but the ones that can be picked out individually like chickpeas,  black eyed beans etc. I used the flat brown lentils you use for mujadara.

Ingredients: 

• A cup of lentils - boiled


• Black Mustard seeds-1 and 1/2 tsp


• 10 curry leaves


• 1 tsp rice bran oil


• Salt-to taste


• Asafoetida- 2 pinches


• Coconut-3-4 tbsp


• Red chilli powder- 2 tsp(vary this based on your spice limit)

Method:

• In a pan, heat 1 tsp oil, add mustard seeds, once it pops, add curry leaves, asafoetida. If you like taste of onions, you could add onions now and fry them with it.


• Add the boiled lentils, chilli powder, salt, coconut and mix them together.


• Awesome as an evening snack. You could omit coconut if you don't want it. But then, onions must be added then.

South African Split Pigeon Pea Soup

I was away for a month in South Africa volunteering with lions (Excuse for not blogging regularly) Had the most amazing time of my life :D. Got to do lot of adventure activities-one of which was cage diving with sharks at Gaansbaai , Cape town.

It was a freezing cold day and had to jump into the water, do up-down up-down like 200 times, it was exhausting. Back on shore, the tour company that took us into the ocean had this vegetable soup ready to warm us up. No offence - I thought Australia was the biggest meat eating country. I was wrong. It is South Africa. Finding vegan food is a challenge there :P. Anyways, I did my normal questioning with the ladies there - Any chicken stock,butter, cream blah blah blah? The lady who made the soup said it had only lentils, potato and carrots. NOTHING ELSE. I had a mouthful of the soup and man, it was the best soup I have ever had. Got the recipe from the ladies.

Ingredients: 

• Split pigeon pea-1/2 cup soaked in hot water for 30 mins and boil until its mushy


• Carrot grated-1


• Potato grated-2

Method:

• Add all the ingredients, lower the heat and cook on low flame for like 40 mins. Keep adding water to retain the soup consistency


• Add salt and pepper and that's it :) Yummy soup. No oil or stock.


• Deepa of Spice Rack blog had added a green mango for sourness. You could do that too :)