Quinoa Porridge/Pudding/Kheer

This is a very healthy recipe.We all know that Quinoa is getting great attention because of it's high protein and allergen free characteristics.I like this grain very much as being a vegetarian it is hard to get enough protein from one dish.This is one more recipe that I came up with. I would say that the dish I am presenting can be eaten for breakfast as a porridge or can be served as a dessert or can be eaten for a quick and healthy dinner.

Ingredients Required :
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Quinoa - 1 Cup
Water - 2 Cups
Whole Grain Milk - 3 Cups (Organic Unsweetened)
Dates - 20
Cashew - 2 tbsp

For Garnishing :
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Cardamom.....................5(powdered)
Pistachios...............1tbsp
Golden Raisins........2tsp
Cashews................1tsp
Ghee......................1tsp

Preparation :
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First rinse the quinoa 5 to 6 times nicely in water and drain so that the bitterness of the grains is gone.

Soak the dates and cashews in warm water in separate  bowls. 
  

Now pressure cook the quinoa in a pressure pan directly with 2cups of water for 2 whistles.

Once the pressure is gone remove the lid of the pressure pan.You will notice that the quinoa is nicely cooked.

Now switch  the stove on medium heat and add 3cups of organic whole grain milk to the pan of quinoa and stir well.Let the milk and quinoa start to bubble.

Grind the dates and cashews into paste.Now add the dates paste and stir well.

 Later add the cashew paste,cardamom powder and stir well and let cook for 5 more minutes on low heat so that the dates and cashew flavor blend in well.

Meanwhile in a pan add 1tsp of ghee and toast the raisins and all the nuts of your choice and keep them aside.

After 5minutes add the nuts to the quinoa-dates porridge/pudding/kheer and tranfer it to a serving bowl.

Yummy and healthy Quinoa Porridge/Pudding/Kheer is ready to be served.

Note :
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1. I did not use any other sweeteners except dates. If you like it sweeter you can add sugar/jaggery/honey/agave nectar.

2. You can use regular milk instead of whole grain milk. This organic unsweetened whole grain milk is made from organic brown rice, amaranth, millet and quinoa.

3.You can use almonds instead of cashews.

Earlier I posted this recipe on Nithu's Guest Post and now I am posting it on my blog to send this to couple of events.

This goes to CWF-WG : Quinoa Event hosted by Priya Mitharwal.

I am sending this to Jihva : BreakFast event being hosted by Suma and started by Indira .

I am sending this to EVENT : KHEER FESTIVAL AT EASY2COOKRECIPES  started and hosted by Shama Nagarajan.

I am sending this to Show Me Your Whole Grains event being hosted by Divya.

Healthy Porridge with Greens and Legumes/Ravva Pongal with Greens and an Award

Today I am presenting a healthy pongal/porridge recipe with multiple vegetables,legumes and semolina.It's very quick,simple and easy to make.This nutritious porridge can be taken for breakfast, lunch or dinner.It's a complete meal.Kids love this too.

Let's start making this healthy dish--------------------

                               

Main Ingredients :

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Semolina/Cracked Wheat Ravva............................1cup

Water/Veg.Broth..................................................4cups

Amaranth Leaves.................................................1/2cup

Grated Carrot......................................................1/2cup

Green Beans....................................................... 1/2cup

Cilantro...............................................................1/2cup

Onion..................................................................1/2cup

Cooked Toor Daal Paste/Powdered ToorDaal.........1/4cup

Seasoning Ingredients :

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Olive Oil................................................2tsp

Mustard Seeds.......................................1tsp

Cumin Seeds..........................................1tsp

Green Chilly............................................2

Ginger....................................................1inch

Garlic.....................................................1clove

Pepper Powder......................................1tsp

Coriander Powder..................................2tsp

Salt........................................................to taste

Preparation :

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Place a pan/vessel on the stove on medium heat.Add oil , mustard seeds and cumin seeds.Once the seeds start spluttering add green chilly pieces.

                                  

Now add amaranth leaves(as these leaves are not available all the time,when available I buy more and wash it ,cut it and freeze it) and stir well.Let cook for a minute.

                                    

Now add green beans stir well and later add cilantro(I made cilantro paste with chillies and lemon juice & froze it so I added cilantro cubes) .You can add fresh cilantro.Let it cook for a minute.

                                          

Now add grated carrot to the other vegetables and stir well.

                                          

Now add diced onions and stir.While this is cooking cut ginger and garlic into small pieces.

                                          

Now add cut ginger and garlic to the pan of veggies.cook for a minute.

                                         

Now add 4 cups of vegetable broth or water to the vegetable mix.

                                                 

                                   

Add little turmeric and salt(adjust salt accordingly as the broth has salt too) to the broth.

                                         

Once the contents of the pan start boiling well ,I added 1/4 cup of powdered toordaal and let it cook for 3 minutes(I powdered it so that it will be easy to cook instead of pressure cooking and mashing).

                                         

Now add coriander powder and mix well.While this is cooking dry roast the semolina.

                                         

Finally add the semolina and cook for 3 more minutes covered.Now add the pepper powder and mix well.

                                      

Yummy Ravva Pongal with Greens is ready to eat.Serve it hot.You can eat it as is.For kids add little ghee and serve.

                                         

Note :

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1) I added cilantro paste so it made my pongal look green.If you use fresh cilantro your pongal/porridge would be in cream color.

2)You can use spinach instead of amaranth leaves.You can add many other greens and vegetables too.

3)You can use cracked wheat instead of semolina.

4)If you add more vegetables adjust broth/water accordingly.

Try this healthy recipe and let me know how you like it.


                                                                      Sunshine Award

This is the first award my blog received and feels nice to know that my recipes are being appreciated and liked by everyone . Jagruti from Joy of Cooking has passed me this lovely award.I thank her for sharing this beautiful award with me.Thank you Jagruti for your encouraging words and wish you many more awards like this.I would like to share this happiness with few more blog-pals that I have come across in this journey.


These are the fellow bloggers with whom I would like to share this award------------

Nithu , Gita , Priya , Susan , Rachel , Suma , Divya , ShamaNagarajan , Mahimaa , Bharathy, Padhu , Love2Cook , SE , Daisy Blue , SriLekha .The reason that I share this with them is that I like the way they present their dishes and the simplicity with which they explain them.All these blog-pals have been very encouraging and inspiring to me.

These Award Winners have to do the following :

1) Use the logo within your post .

2) Pass on to atleast 12 other bloggers .

3)Add a link to the nominees in your post.

4) Let the nominees know of their award

5) Share the love and link to the friend, who has passed this award to you.


                                                               Happy Blogging Everyone