Quinoa Pongal is tasty and a healthy twist to the usual one made with rice. . Quinoa (pronounced as Keen-wah ) is the new age food. It serves as a good replacement for rice.
Quinoa is one of the superfoods used by most of us. It is versatile to use, the variety of recipes created is the proof. With Makar Sankranti, round the corner, I am sharing a pongal recipe here. Nothing fancy but the taste is really good. Give a try to quinoa sweet pongal.
It is customary to make pongal during Makar Sankranthi in South India. Pongal is made usually with rice and moong dal. I have shared the recipe of it earlier. The other dishes prepared during the three days of festival are bajra roti, brinjal stir fry, khara pongal
When healthy cooking is the new norm, we need to make a few changes in the way we eat or even cook. Quinoa is usually soaked for sometime, once you decide to make, soak it for atleast fifteen minutes. Roasting the moong dal in a little ghee gives a good flavour to the dish. The quinoa pongal recipe is pretty straight forward.

quinoa pongal
A few interesting facts about quinoa :
- Quinoa is a good source of protein. It contains all the nine kinds of amino acids.
- It is rich in iron and magnesium.
- It is also a good source of fiber.
- It is considered as a super food.
- It is gluten-free.
- It is a good replacement for rice.
- It comes in different varieties as red, black and white.
Quinoa Pongal Recipe
Ingredients :
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 2 tablespoon moong dal
- 2 cups water
- 3/4 cup jaggery
- 2 +1 teaspoon ghee
- 4 almonds
- 4 cashew nut
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
Method:
- Wash and soak the quinoa for fifteen minutes.
- Dry roast moong dal to a golden colour.
- Cook quinoa and moong dal with two cups of water in a pressure cooker for four whistles.
- Put the cooked quinoa in a pan. Add ghee to it.
- Melt the jaggery with half a cup of water and strain it into the pan.
- Let it cook for sometime. Garnish with roasted nuts. Finally, put some cardamom powder to it and serve.
Take a tip :
- Adjust sweetness as per your liking. The measurement gives a moderately sweet dish, you can increase it by one-fourth cup.
- If the jaggery is pure, you can add without straining.
- Raisins may be used.
- Soaking is necessary to cook quinoa properly.

Quinoa Pongal
Ingredients
Method
- Wash and soak the quinoa for fifteen minutes.
- Dry roast moong dal to a golden colour.
- Cook quinoa and moong dal with two cups of water in a pressure cooker for four whistles.
- Put the cooked quinoa in a pan. Add ghee to it.
- Melt the jaggery with half a cup of water and strain it into the pan.
- Let it cook for sometime. Garnish with roasted nuts. Finally, put some cardamom powder to it and serve.
Notes
If the jaggery is pure , you can add without straining.
Other nuts as raisins may be used.
Soaking is necessary to cook quinoa properly.
About the event :
This post is part of the Festive Recipes at Shhh Cooking Secretly Challenge. Thee theme was suggested by Priya Vijaykrishnan. I liked her Kalyan Kootu and bookmarked it to try for the festive days. Do check out her other recipes from Tamil cuisine. Here, members are paired and exchange secret ingredients. The dish is prepared according to the suggested theme with the ingredients. Later, other members, try to guess the ingredients given by the partner. It serves as a fun and challenge to all of us.
My partner was Sasmita, she gave me ghee and jaggery, I have prepared quinoa pongal. Sasmita has prepared delicious Mini Pannettone with the secret ingredients, raisin and orange zest.
The other quinoa recipes shared earlier are : Quinoa Dosa, Quinoa Upma
If you make Quinoa Pongal, take a picture and share it by tagging @foodiejayashree on Instagram and @evergreendishes on Facebook. Subscribe to get all updates and an e-book for free.
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quinoa pongal
Linking it to the event at Shhh Secretly Cooking Challenge

