Quinoa Idli with Vegetables is an easy and healthy breakfast. The soft and spongy quinoa idlies are an excellent way to include quinoa in the diet.
A healthy Indian quinoa recipe:
Quinoa Idli is a healthy and easy Indian recipe using quinoa. Quinoa is a gluten – free food that is an excellent source of protein, antioxidant properties, vitamins and minerals.
Quinoa is an excellent replacement for the rice and wheat. Idli is a steamed rice cakes, a famous breakfast in South India. It is a soft and mild dish that stays gentle in the tummy.
I added quinoa with rice and made idlies; it turned out equally soft and spongy to the regular rice idlis. Quinoa Idli is a soft and gluten-free food made with quinoa, rice and urad dal. Adding vegetables in quinoa idli makes an idli more nutritious.
Quinoa Idli for Kids:
Quinoa Idli is an excellent way to include quinoa in the diet. Especially for kids, quinoa idli is one of the delicious ways to include quinoa and vegetables in the diet.
Idlies are one of the excellent comfort dishes for kids. My little son Aldrich loves Idlies, so I added quinoa to the rice and made a quinoa idlies. It turned equally soft and spongy to the regular rice idli.
He doesn’t even realize that this idli includes quinoa. Also for making the quinoa idlies more nutritious, I added vegetables to it. The vegetables blend well with the batter and give a subtle vegetable flavor.
Smart Cooking Tips:
1. First grind urad dal separately to a smooth and fluffy batter. Grind urad dal to a smooth batter by adding water little by little for at least 10 – 15 minutes. This helps to make a soft and spongy idli.
2. Grind rice and quinoa together to a smooth batter by adding water little by little. Since quinoa is smaller in size, it remains as it is without getting grind to a smooth batter.
3. After grinding, mix well both the urad dal batter and quinoa rice batter using a hand, instead of using a spoon or spatula to mix. The heat from your hand helps to ferment the batter properly.
4. Avoid using cold water to grind the rice, quinoa and urad dal. Use the water that is in room temperature for grinding. This helps the fermentation process because properly fermented batter yields soft and fluffy idlies.
5. Adding salt to the batter also helps in fermentation. Store the batter in a slightly large bowl, because the batter rises during fermentation.
6. During the cold weather, the fermentation process takes place slowly. So place the batter in a warm place at your home. Turn on the oven light, place the batter and allow to ferment overnight. The heat from light helps in fermenting the batter.
7. Avoid using a tight lid to cover the lid. Air flow is necessary for the fermentation, so cover the batter using a light and loose lid.
8. Adding vegetables in quinoa idli is purely an option. You can add any of your favorite vegetables like potato, cabbage, capsicum in this idli. Steam idlies using a idli cooker or pressure cooker for maximum 10 – 12 minutes. Avoid overcooking the idlies, overcooking tends to make the idlies harder.
Quinoa Idli with Vegetables is an easy and healthy breakfast. The soft and spongy quinoa idlies are an excellent way to include quinoa in the diet.
- 0.50 cup QUINOA
- 0.50 cup IDLI RICE
- 0.25 cup URAD DAL
- 0.50 tsp FENUGREEK SEED
- 2 tbsp OIL
- 0.25 cup ONIONS CHOPPED
- 0.50 cup CARROTS CHOPPED
- 0.50 gms BEANS SNAP GREEN RAW
- 0.50 tsp MUSTARD SEEDS
- 0.50 tsp URAD DAL
- 2 tsp SALT TABLE
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Soak quinoa, rice and fenugreek seeds together in water for 5 - 6 hours. Wash quinoa several times in water using a wire mesh strainer before soaking.
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Soak urad dal separately for 5 hours in water. Strain and discard the water completely from urad and add urad dal in a grinder or mixer.
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Add water little by little and grind urad dal to a smooth and fluffy batter. Transfer the urad dal batter to a wide bowl and keep aside until needed.
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Strain and discard the water completely from the soaked rice, quinoa and fenugreek seeds.
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Grind the rice, quinoa and fenugreek seeds together by adding water little by little to a smooth batter and transfer it to the same wide bowl with urad dal batter.
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Combine both the urad dal, quinoa rice batter, salt and mix well. Cover the batter and allow it to ferment for 8 hours or overnight.
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After 8 hours of fermentation, you might notice the batter will rise and increase the quantity. If not allow the batter to ferment for 2 - 3 hours or until the batter rise and increase in the quantity.
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For making vegetable idli: Take 2 cups of fermented batter in a separate bowl add the necessary amount of water until the batter reaches a smooth and slightly thin consistency and mix well.
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Chop the onion, carrots, and beans finely. In a pan heat oil, add mustard seeds and wait until it gets splutter. Add urad dal, chopped onion and cook until the onion becomes soft.
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Add chopped carrots, green beans, salt and mix well. Cook until the veggies become slightly soft. Add it to the 2 cups of batter and mix well.
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Add a cup of water in the Idli cooker and grease the idli moulds with oil and pour a spoonful of idli batter in each Idli moulds. Arrange the filled idli moulds in the idli cooker or pressure cooker carefully one after another, cover the Idli cooker and cook for 10 - 12 minutes or until the steam starts to coming out.
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Avoid over cooking the idlies maximum 12 minutes of steaming is enough. Allow the idlies to cool slightly in the idli cooker or pressure cooker itself and take out the idlies one by one using a slotted spoon. Quinoa vegetable idli is ready to serve.
How to serve Quinoa Vegetable Idli?
Serve Quinoa vegetable idli with coriander chutney or sambar or tomato chutney.