Quin-oha

The longer I live in Bombay, the more I seem to develop a liking towards Indian food.  While I am yet to crave popular dishes like butter chicken, saag aloo or baingan bharta, I’ve started to embrace a handful of dishes.  One of which is Poha i.e. my go-to lunch or dinner 3 to 4 times a week.

Poha with Scrambled Eggs
Poha with Scrambled Eggs & Zucchini

If you haven’t tried/heard of it, Poha is a Maharashtrian dish that is made from flattened rice, vegetables, onions, potatoes and various spices.  It’s often eaten for  breakfast/brunch or as a snack.  Trust me to go against the norm and eat is as lunch or dinner ;).  Although wholegrain rice flakes, as well as oats specifically made for poha, are now available, I tend to stick with regular white rice flakes. If I want to switch things up, I prefer to replace the rice flakes with quinoa, resulting in Quin-oha.

photo 3

Is it me or does any dish involving quinoa automatically get marketed as a “Superfood meal”.  This dish certainly fits the bill, but I am attributing its superfood status more to the use of turmeric, mustard seeds and curry leaves.  Although their health benefits are often overlooked, they are more potent than I realised:

  • As a good source of vitamin A, curry leaves promote good sight.  Extracts of curry leaves can also reduce chemotherapy and radiation side effects. (Source)
  • Mustard seeds contain selenium and magnesium, both which can help reduce blood pressure , the risk of cancer and the frequency of migraine attacks (Source)
  • Turmeric can help treat digestive issues such as stomachaches, excessive gas, diarrhea, and excessive bloating.   It is also a natural remedy for chest disease such as the common cold, bronchitis, and chest infections (Source)

photo 4

Especially as this is really quick to make and lasts up to 4 days in the refrigerator, I prefer to make multiple servings at once to use for lunches/dinners during the week.  Pair a serving with a couple of eggs, Greek yogurt or a breast of chicken and consider that a well-rounded, meal…not to mention flavorful!

Quin-oha Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • ¼ cup each of finely diced green beans, onions & carrots
  • 1 green chili, finely chopped
  • 6-8 curry leaves
  • 1 tablespoon peanut (or sunflower) oil
  • 1 ½  teaspoons mustard seeds
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • Salt to taste
  • 1-2 tsps lemon juice
  • Crushed peanuts (optional)
  • Finely chopped coriander (optional)

Method

  1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat & add mustard seeds.  Once they start to splutter, add the curry leaves, green chili, and onions.  Stir over medium heat till the onion becomes translucent.
  2. Then add in the carrots, beans, turmeric & salt. Sauté for 4-5 minutes.
  3. Mix in the quinoa and lemon juice and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes, till the dish has warmed through.
  4. Depending on your preferences, garnish with peanuts & coriander (Obviously the latter is a no-go in my Poha Quin-oha 😉 ).

What’s your favorite grain?

Indian food- yay or nay?

56 thoughts on “Quin-oha”

  1. Looks yummm!!!

    I can never get my quinoa to be perfectly cooked.. Its either soggy or little under cooked…

    But I love it in any form!!

  2. That sounds like a superfood meal indeed! I love Quinoa – especially sweet 🙂 I mix it in greek yogurt with cacao powder, stevia and cinnamon – and you have a sweet meal that counts as dessert too!
    I love Indian Food, but my stomach doesn’t so much. Still, I go for Indian Food once in a while, the taste&smell is just sooo delicious!

  3. I love Indian food, but homemade as opposed to store bought! I find restaurant versions are very heavy and make me feel uncomfortable!

    That recipe looks like an absolute winner- and you bet I’ll be making it this week. And I’ll join you on the lunch/dinner bandwagon- I can’t see myself eating it for breakfast!

  4. I’ve never had Indian food from a restaurant, but in the past year I decided to experiment a bit with Indian cooking and tried channa masala and a lentil dahl. I really liked both. And I know I’d like this dish too – it looks delicious!

    My favourite grain is short grain brown rice. I could seriously eat it every day.

  5. Truth be told, I’m a complete stranger to Indian food. I’ve played around with curry and Indian spices on a few occasions, but let’s be honest – I had no idea what I was doing 😆 That being said, this dish sounds delicious, and I’d be over in a heartbeat if you were making it for dinner… as long as you left out the peanut oil 😉

    As for favourite grain, does oatmeal count? If not, then white rice. I know brown is supposed to be better for ya, but I can’t deny that I love the taste of white.

  6. You meal pics make me more anxious to come home and eat my heart out! This looks like such a yum easy meal to make. Def going to give it a try this week as have all ingredients at home.

  7. YUM!! Indian food is one of my favorites! I didn’t know about all the benefits of the spices. Between them and the quinoa, this dish is THE definition of super food! 😛 There are lots of grains I love – quinoa, brown rice, bulgar, oats… But oats are probably my favorite. Well actually, it depends on how they’re cooked. Cafeteria oats? Ew, they hardly even count as oats!

  8. Annnnd you’re making me crave Indian food. I figured that the quinoa would make it a ‘superfood’ but I had no idea about the other seasonings…good to know! I would probably have to go with brown rice as my grain of choice, just because I always have it available in the house!

  9. I do love roti and korma…but I prefer eating the nom indian goods. God, if I had to eat dal or saag everyday I would have been twice as heavy(roti with ghee)
    I am starting to.like quinoa mainly as it keeps me full for a good amount of time.
    Nice recipe…will try it soon.
    zainab

  10. Brown rice is my favorite grain, I’m such a huge rice eater it’s insane!! But I also love oats 🙂

    And sometimes I crave Indian food, cause it can be comforting, but it’s way too fattening! Usually when I crave Indian spices I prefer things like tandoori chicken wraps, since they are so much lighter to digest!

    1. I’m completely with you on finding many of the typical Indian dishes too heavy…that’s one of the reasons why I rather eat Indian dishes that are homemade (versus at a restaurant).

  11. I love quinoa but I don’t know how to make it very well. This looks way more delicious than I could ever do.

    And if I lived in Bombay? I’d be eating non-stop. I love Indian food!

    1. Stick with the “2 part water to 1 part quinoa” ratio and that should do the trick- I used to always either over- or under-cook it but that ratio works like a charm every time!

  12. I love quinoa in any form. It is so easy to use it instead of rice in rice dishes. I have tried it for lemon rice, curd rice or tamarind rice. but never for poha. Thanks for posting.. I would love to try it.. I am a die hard poha fan.. can eat it always without getting bored..

  13. Quin-oha sounds delightful, what a flavor and texture feast! Genius to add crushed peanuts! I just got me a handful of fresh turmeric and cannot wait to pair it up with quinoa which is hands down my fav grain! By the way -is flattened rice the same as arborio rice?
    I love Indian food – the spices and smells – oh my!

  14. I’ve never cooked with actual curry leaves, but I bet they lend incredible flavor. There are a lot of studies where I go to school being done about the benefits of turmeric in preventing cancer. There’s lots of research showing it’s preventative for Alzheimer’s, too! I loooove quinoa and curry, so I’ll be making this for sure.

  15. I actually cannot eat any grain, so I don’t have a favorite 🙁 And I won’t lie to you, when I was younger I was not a fan of Indian food except for NAAN, but now I cannot eat that either. Any dish that’s grain and dairy free, I will chow down on though now a days!

  16. Quinoa! I love all things quinoa. It’s on of those foods that I swear tastes good any way you style it. I love that you incorporate quinoa into an Indian styled dish. Looks super yummy.
    I’ve been a HUGE turmeric fan these days, so I bet I’d be all over this one!

  17. Quinoa is always OMG SUPERFOOD but you’re right, those other items mentioned are fantastic for you as well! I love pretty much any quinoa dish… well that’s not entirely true, it needs the correct seasonings and such haha. So basically I just contradicted myself. Anywayyyyy this looks like a winner in my book, so many interesting flavors and with the great consistency of quinoa? Delish.

  18. Sufficiently salivating now! I would say quinoa is probably my go-to grain but I also really like millet! Lately I’ve been adding tumeric to everything since it’s an anti-inflamattory and my stupid leg keeps acting up. I’d like to believe it’s helping but who knows?!?!

    1. Oh man I’m sorry to hear about your leg! And whether or not the turmeric helps, one thing’s for sure: it can’t hurt 🙂

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