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 : 

1. Quinoa is a good source of  protein. It  contains all the nine kinds of amino acids. 
2. It is rich in iron and magnesium. 
3. It is also a good source of  fiber.
4. It is considered as a super food.
5. It is gluten-free.
6. It is  a good replacement for  rice. 
7. 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

Quinoa pongal is creamy and tasty. It is a healthy twist to the usual one made with rice.

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Course: festive cooking, festive sweet

Cuisine: karnataka

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 2 tablespoon moong dal
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 cup jaggery
• 2 +1 teaspoon ghee
• 4 almonds
• 4 cashewnut
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

Method

 

1. Wash and soak the quinoa for fifteen minutes.
2. Dry roast moong dal to a golden colour.
3. Cook quinoa and moong dal with two cups of water in a pressure cooker for four whistles.
4. Put the cooked quinoa in a pan. Add ghee to it.
5. Melt the jaggery with half a cup of  water and strain it into the pan.
6. Let it cook for sometime.  Garnish with roasted nuts. Finally, put some cardamom powder to it and serve.

Notes

Adjust sweetness as per your liking. The measurement gives a moderately sweet dish. Increase by one-fourth cup.
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