Quinoa Tawa Pulao: A fun, healthy, quick, nutritious, chatpata aka lip-smackingly delicious recipe!
Update: This recipe became the winner of of India’s Digital Home Chef Contest – Office Goers’ Challenge. Super grateful to India’s Digital Chef, India Gate Foods and Judges – Chefs Sanjeev Kapoor, Saransh Goila and Amrita Raichand. The challenge was to use Quinoa from India gate, and make a recipe for Office tiffin!
Just because it is an office tiffin recipe, it doesn’t have to be same run-off-the mill or boring. And just because it is chatpata and interesting, it need not be unhealthy! This is a super healthy, super delicious recipe, loaded with super foods, vegetables, proteins, and chatpata taste! It is an amalgamation of yummy pav-bhaji flavored recipe prepared in the form of a pulao by using quinoa in place of rice. Quinoa is one of the world’s most popular health foods – the superfood of superfoods.
Tawa Pulao is a very popular Indian street food of Mumbai. It is a complete meal in a bowl. With the added twist of quinoa it takes the recipe even a notch above with tons of nutritional benefits without compromising the taste. In fact, I personally liked the quinoa version much better than the rice version. Don’t believe me? Try it out for yourself. This recipe is a total keeper!
This recipe is categorized under vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free.So without further adieu, here is the recipe:
Quinoa Tawa Pulao
Ingredients
For boiling Quinoa:
- 1 cup Quinoa
- 1 ½ cups Water
- ¼ teaspoon Oil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
For making Gravy:
- ½ cup Green peas, shelled
- ¾ cup Capsicum / Green bell pepper, diced
- ¾ cup Tomatoes, diced
- ½ cup Onion, diced
- ¾ cup Boiled potato, diced
- ¾ cup Tofu / Paneer (Indian cottage cheese), cut in cubes Use Tofu for vegan version
- Salt - to taste
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder / Deggi mirch
- 1 tablespoon Avocado oil / Olive oil / Butter Use Oil for vegan version
- ½ teaspoon Ginger, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon Garlic, finely chopped
- ¼ cup Cilantro / Coriander, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons Kasuri methi {dried fenugeek leaves)
- 2 teaspoons Lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoon Pav bhaji masala
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
Instructions
- Wash quinoa. Boil it.
I used Instant Pot to boil quinoa. You may use IP, pressure cooker, or even a simple pan to do so.
Wash quinoa to remove bitterness. Brush a few drops of oil in Instant pot. Add 1 cup washed quinoa and 1 ½ cups of water, ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of oil.
Close the lid and select the 'Rice' button on IP. It will take 10 minutes to boil, and few additional minutes for the IP to heat as well as to release pressure later. - Heat oil / butter. Generally butter is used for Pav-bhaji, but you may also use avocado / olive oil to make it healthier. Add chopped ginger and garlic. Saute it for a minute. Add chopped onions. Saute until translucent - about 5 minutes.
- Add chopped tomatoes. Saute it for a few minutes. Add salt to taste. Add Kashmiri red chili powder / deggi mirch, pav-bhaji masala, turmeric powder. Mix well, continue to saute. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water such that the masalas don't burn. Add diced capsicum. After a 3-4 minutes, add the green peas. Saute' until the tomatoes are mushy and the capsicum cooked. This whole process after adding tomatoes will take roughly 10-12 minutes.
- Add kasuri methi, cubed tofu / paneer, boiled and diced potatoes, and chopped coriander. Mix. Finally add the boiled quinoa. Drizzle the lemon juice. Fluff it with two forks such that the quinoa mixes well but doesn't become mushy. Turn off the heat after 2-3 minutes.
- Serve hot with a side of raita or yogurt, and roasted papad.
What are the health benefits of Quinoa?
There are many many health benefits of quinoa. A few are listed below.
- Quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein and one of the few plant foods that contain all nine essential amino acids.And hence, it is referred to as a complete protein. It has both more and better protein than most grains. It is high in protein compared to most plant foods.
- Quinoa a Low Glycemic Index Which is Good for Blood Sugar Control.
- Quinoa is high in Important Minerals Like Iron and Magnesium, potassium and zinc.On a side note, it also contains a substance called phytic acid, which can bind these minerals and reduce their absorption. However, by soaking and/or sprouting the quinoa prior to cooking, you can reduce the phytic acid content and make these minerals more bioavailable.
- It is also high in fiber, magnesium, B vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants.
The above benefits have been cited from this source and more information can be found at this link.
Lynn
I found this to be the perfect recipe to jump right into Indian cooking! The spices weren’t hard to find and the ingredients were so fresh and yummy! I even made some really strange last-minute substitutions since I’m a “fly by the seat of my pants” kind of cook: purple potatoes, sugar snap peas (it was all the Veggie mart had in stock that day) and heirloom beefsteak tomatoes. It turned out really, really well for the very first dish I made — and I found that, for a light eater, it was enough for one for four days!
Sonal
Dear Lynn, thank you so much for trying this out and posting your feedback for this recipe. Truly appreciate it.So happy you liked the recipe.
Nicole Pagani
Please say when the potatoes and lemon should be added, I had to just throw them in at the end when I realised that they were not included. Very delicious dish especially served with Greek yoghurt.
Eat More Art
Hi Nicole, I apologize as I had missed writing that in the recipe. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I have now modified the recipe to add it. And yes, you did the right thing – both of these things go in at the end – as potatoes are already boiled, it doesn’t need to be cooked further. Lemon juice also generally always gets added in the end. I am glad you liked the recipe. Thank you again.