Quinoa Chick Peas Pesarattu

Hmm....is this my Event that I announced for myself ?? Now sound like that to me...as I received only two recipes till now. :-(  Didn't wanna loose hope...so am trying new recipes myself and adding it to the event.

Good for me right!!

The previous day night I soaked these chick peas without thinking about any recipe for the next day. The very next day...we decided to leave early for shopping, so just made some quick breakfast and rinsed off the chick peas and kept it in the fridge and didn't use it.

The next day, I washed the chick peas again and didn't know what to make....so came up this quick idea...as because, quinoa does not need much of a soaking time. 

Here is another recipe for my own blog event! Ha ha...

Ingredients:

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1 cup Quinoa washed and soaked in water for about 20 mins

1/2 cup Chick Peas soaked overnight or in hot water for about 1-2 hrs

1 small Onion chopped

1 Green Chili

1/4 inch Ginger

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

Salt and Pepper to taste

Oil or Ghee as needed (I didn't use any :))

Method:

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1. In a mixer add the quinoa, chick peas, green chili, salt and pepper, cumin and ginger and grind to a fine paste adding enough water to make a thick dosa batter.

2. Mix the onions into the batter until well incorporated.

3. Heat a dosa tava or pan and when it's medium high hot add a ladle of batter and spread it like a thick dosa.

4. Flip it once the bottom of the pesarattu turn golden brown and spread 1/4 tsp oil or ghee if you want to.

5. Cook the other side too and repeat the steps to make as many as you need.

6. I served these pesarattu with Spicy Peanut Garlic Chutney Powder. (Recipe for Peanut Garlic chutney powder will be updated soon!). You can serve with your choice of chutney or chutney powder or sambar.

Barley Beet Summer Salad

This is my another successful experiment on barley. As I told you in the previous recipe, when we use whole grains, we need to use the right ingredients to flavor the dish, else it will taste bland. This time I tried to flavor it while soaking the barley...I should say it tasted way better.

This salad was yummm....I kept on eating all through the evening. I hope you will also try and like it....

Ingredients:

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1/2 cup pearl Barley

2 medium Beet roots

3 tbsp Mint chopped

1/2 small Red Onion sliced thin

1 Tomato sliced or cubed

1 green Chili Chopped

1 Lemon rind grated and juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 1/2 cup Water

1/4 tsp Knorr Vegetable/Chicken Seasoning (If you can't find or don't have one, you can add salt instead)

Method:

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1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Wash the beetroot, wipe it clean with paper towel and individually wrap it in aluminium foil, place the beetroot in a baking sheet and roast it for about 1 hr and let it come to room temperature before opening the foil.

3.1. Wash the barley, add knorr vegetable/ chicken seasoning and 1 1/2 cup water and bring it to a boil. Off the flame and let it soak for about an hour or two until the water is all soaked up by the barley.

4. Remove the foil from the roasted beetroot and peel the skin and slice or cut into desired shape (like strips, or cubes or chop it).

5. Place all the ingredients, tomato, onion, barley, beetroot, mint, salt, pepper, lemon rind, lemon juice and olive oil and mix all well and keep it for about 30 mins until all the juices have been absorbed by the beets and barley.

6. You can serve this as a light dinner (as I did) or as a warm/cold salad.

Note: If you want to serve it warm, prepare the dish and serve it immediately after the beets are chopped.

If you want to serve it cold, after mixing all the ingredients keep it in the fridge for about 30 mins.

Re-posting this recipe to send to the event "Salad Spread" hosted by Taste Junction

Buckwheat Porridge

The name 'buckwheat' or 'beech wheat' comes from its triangular seeds, which resemble the much larger seeds of the beech nut from the beech tree, and the fact that it is used like wheat.

I always thought buckwheat is nothing but wheat, but when I saw this in the grocery store, I wanted to learn more about it and since it's packed with fiber and protein, wanted to use as a main ingredient in my recipes. So here I go another recipe invention here. Very simple and easy to make...Since this is my first recipe, I didn't want to complicate much but make simple recipe and feel the real taste of the grain. This grain is no wonder very flavorful by itself.

Medicinal Uses:

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Buckwheat contains a glucoside named rutin, a medicinal chemical that strengthens capillary walls, reducing hemorrhaging in people with high blood pressure and increasing microcirculation in people with chronic venous insufficiency. Dried buckwheat leaves for tea were manufactured in Europe under the brand name "Fagorutin."

Buckwheat contains D-chiro-inositol, a component of the secondary messenger pathway for insulin signal transduction found to be deficient in Type II diabetes and Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). It is being studied for use in treating Type II diabetes. Research on D-chiro-inositol and PCOS has shown promising results.

A buckwheat protein has been found to bind cholesterol tightly. It is being studied for reducing plasma cholesterol in people withhyperlipidemia.

Ingredients:

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1 cup Buckwheat

2 cups Water

2 Carrots peeled and grated

1/4 inch ginger thinly sliced

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 cup Cilantro chopped

Method:

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1. Wash the buckwheat in water twice and add two cups of water and bring to a boil in a heavy bottom sauce pan.

2. Simmer the flame to medium, add salt and pepper, cover 3/4 th cover and cook until the wheat is cooked for about 10 to 15 mins.

3. You can add more water or reduce the water as you need, off the flame and add grated carrot, ginger, and cilantro and stir well.

4. The prepared porridge is hot enough to cook the vegetables add and will help to release the aroma of the fresh herb (cilantro).

5. Cover and let it stand for 5 mins.

6. Serve it hot like a soup, but it's more like a porridge. To make it more flavorful you can add some butter over the top just before serving.