Ocado delivered Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) as a replacement for brown rice a week or so ago, so I had to first figure out what it is and then what to do with it. Turns out it was big with the Incas, who held the crop to be sacred, referred to quinoa as “chisaya mama” or “mother of all grains”, and it was the Inca emperor who would traditionally sow the first seeds of the season using ‘golden implements’
So sounds like pretty cool stuff. So to keep with the health side of it I decided to try something vegan with it.
What you need.
- Mug of the mother of all grains.
- Large medium onion
- Large carrot
- Some mushrooms
- Red pepper
- Olive oil
- Birds Eye Chilies
- Chili powder
- Garlic
- Cumin Seeds
- Ground Coriander
- Salt
- Pepper
- Tomato puree
- Peas
- water
- Fresh Coriander
- Some more hot pepper sauce
First off, wash the quinoa, seemingly it has a bitter coating of some kind that need to be got rid of. So wash it well.
Now, smash up all the spices, the garlic and some oil in a P and M.
Now heat the spice mixture in a big pan, and get the onions cooking for a couple of mins (go easy, don’t burn them) , now get your carrots, mushrooms and pepper in there, another couple of mins please.
Right, stick the grain in, make sure you mix it up good so its covered in oil (add more if you need) , give it another couple of mins. Now squirt some tomato puree in, add 2 mugs of water, mix it, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins, stirring occasionally and add a little more water if you need to. Towards the end, mix in the peas.
After 15, remove from heat, give it a good old stir, cover and let it sit for 5 mins or so.
Now stir in some chopped coriander.
Taste and add hot sauce if you want to.
Done.
