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Healthy Eating: Quinoa Kheer Recipe

quinoa kheer

No Diwali celebration is complete without a spoonful of that tasty, delicious kheer! It is the most versatile sweet and is extremely simple to make. In this recipe, we’re going to add a healthy twist to light up your Diwali with good health! Let’s try the exciting, healthy Quinoa Kheer recipe! 

What You Will Need 

  • Quinoa – ½ cup 
  • Milk – 1½ cup
  • Ghee – 1 tsp 
  • Cashews – 4 chopped 
  • Almonds – 4 chopped 
  • Walnuts – 4 chopped 
  • Pistachios – 4 chopped 
  • Jaggery – ½ cup 
  • Saffron strands – 5-6 

How To Prepare

  1. Rinse and wash the Quinoa thoroughly and cook it in a pan at low to medium heat for 15-18 minutes. Once done, use a fork to mix it up and transfer it to a plate to avoid over cooking.
  2. Heat a pan, add ghee and roast all the chopped nuts for 3-5 minutes until they slightly change the color.
  3. Time to pour the milk. Keep the flame on medium and add the jaggery. Give it a nice mix and wait till the jaggery melts. It will take around 10 minutes.
  4. Now, add the cooked Quinoa and mix it well and allow the kheer to simmer for 5 more minutes.
  5. Soak the strands of saffron in some milk and then add it to the kheer. Give it a gentle mix and you will have the desired color of the kheer.
  6. Your delicious Quinoa Kheer is ready! Serve hot. 

Note: You can use oats instead of quinoa. Just replace the quinoa with oats and follow the same method.

Highlights of the Quinoa Kheer Recipe

  • With the goodness of healthy fats and protein, this sweet will be most loved by all! 
  • It will provide more satiety in less quantity  
  • Ideal for celebrating a healthy Diwali, guilt-free! 

We hope you enjoy this Quinoa Kheer recipe and share the joy of guilt-free sweetness with your friends and family. Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below. For more Healthy Recipes, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE cooking sessions on GOQii Play. 

Wish you all a happy and healthy Diwali! 

#BeTheForce 

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Quinoa vs Rice: A Head-to-Head Comparison

quinoa vs riceWe’ve been consuming rice for as long as we can remember. Rice is a cereal grain whereas quinoa is a seed grain. Off late, a lot of people have been replacing rice with quinoa for what they assume are added health benefits. Is there a reason? Which one is better in this quinoa vs rice debate? Let’s compare! 

Quinoa vs Rice: The Facts 

  1. Carbohydrates: are essential for fueling our body and its functions. Both rice and quinoa provide us with complex gluten-free carbohydrates, but eating white rice will raise the blood sugar levels faster than quinoa due to the difference in fiber content. Higher fiber content in quinoa is also helpful for weight loss as it helps one feel fuller for a longer time.
  2. Protein: are the building blocks of our muscles and equally important for our metabolism. Proteins are chains of amino acids out of which the nine essential amino acids are present in quinoa. Whereas rice is low in lysine and has an incomplete protein profile. Quinoa has in all 12 amino acids which make it a hit in consumer demand.
  3. Antioxidants: While rice mainly has starchy endosperm, the removal of its bran strips it off its fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Quinoa on other hand is a good source of antioxidants and sprouting increases its antioxidant levels even further.

Both quinoa and white rice are easy to cook and versatile in nature. Both can be easily included in various Indian recipes, but taste wise, rice is more plain and subtle while quinoa is mild. White rice wins over easy availability. Although, Indian farmers have started cultivating quinoa now, rice will always have a place in all Indian households. 

To summarize the quinoa vs rice comparison, we can say that while rice might still be a favorite in many parts of India, it doesn’t match the nutritional profile of quinoa. 

We hope this article helps you make a sound choice between quinoa and rice. Which one would you pick? Let us know in the comments below! For more on nutrition and grains, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to live sessions by nutrition experts on GOQii Play. 

#BeTheForce 

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Healthy Eating: Chinese Quinoa Pulao

Chinese Quinoa Pulao

Have you been craving for some delicious chinese food? Knowing that it might not be safe to order from your favorite restaurant or hit up your local street food joint yet, we’ve got an exciting recipe for you! Satisfy your cravings with this delicious Chinese Quinoa Pulao recipe that’s a healthy twist on fried rice!  

What You Will Need 

  • Quinoa – 1 cup 
  • Water – 2 cups 
  • Salt to taste
  • Black pepper powder – 1 tsp 
  • Soya sauce – 1 tsp 
  • Red chilli sauce – 1 tsp 
  • Oil/Ghee – 2 tsp
  • Mixed vegetables (carrot, green beans, cabbage and capsicum) – 2 cups 
  • Chopped onion – 1 medium 
  • Chopped garlic pods – 3 
  • Chopped green chilli – 1 

How To Prepare

  1. ,Heat a pan with one tsp of oil/ghee
  2. Add soaked, rinsed and strained quinoa. 
  3. Let it roast for a minute on a medium flame and keep stirring it. 
  4. Now add two cups of water to it and salt to taste. 
  5. Once it starts boiling, turn the flame on low, cover and cook it for 10 to 15 minutes. Keep checking to prevent burning. 
  6. After 15 minutes, switch the flame off and keep it covered for 5 minutes so it gets steam cooked. After 5 minutes check if the quinoa is cooked and not sticking to the pan.
  7. Next we take another pan and add a spoon of oil to it. Once the oil is heated, add 2-3 garlic pods and chopped onion. 
  8. Slowly add chopped vegetables, a little salt and cover it for a minute till all vegetables are cooked but still crunchy. 
  9. Now add 1 tsp soya sauce, one tsp red chili sauce and half tsp black pepper powder. Give it all a mix. 
  10. Finally, add the cooked quinoa and stir it all well. Your Chinese Quinoa Pulao is ready! 

Please Note: Quinoa has high quantities of saponin coatings on the outside of the kernel which is bitter to taste. So it’s very important to rinse it well after soaking it for at least 10-20 minutes. 1 cup of dry quinoa will give almost 3 cups of cooked quinoa.

Highlights of the Chinese Quinoa Pulao Recipe  

  • It is a good one pot meal consisting of proportionate carbs, protein, fiber and fat.
  • It will give you a healthy satiety for your cravings for restaurant style Chinese food, without any guilt.
  • Suitable for balanced dinners, for weight loss, diabetics, PCOS and muscle builders as well. 
  • This dish is excellent for vegetarians as they have to rely upon good sources of plant protein and quinoa is complete protein as it has all the essential amino acids which the body is unable to make itself

We hope you try and enjoy this delicious Chinese Quinoa Pulao recipe! Do leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments below! For more Healthy Recipes, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE cooking sessions on GOQii Play. 

#BeTheForce 

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Is Quinoa Really Worth The Nutritional Hype?

quinoa

With the rise in awareness about the right food for good health, people are changing what they eat. New foods or superfoods specifically, are added to the everyday routine foods to get an add on benefit. One such highly popular or highly trending food is “Quinoa” (pronounced as keen-wah)

What is Quinoa?

It is a pseudo-grain but because of its nutritional resemblance to grains, it is considered as a grain. If we look at its source, it is a seed available from the Chenopodium Quinoa Plant. It was widely produced only in South America and the Incas used to call it “the mother of all grains”.

In the year 2013, it was named “The International Year of Quinoa” by the UN because of its valuable qualities and potential to fight world hunger.

Is It Really Worth Including In Our Meals? 

The answer is yes and there are several reasons for it. 

  • Quinoa is non-GMO and a naturally gluten-free grain
  • It is one such plant-based food exception that it is a complete protein: a complete protein means where all the essential amino acids are present which the body cannot produce until we feed it through food. It specifically contains lysine, methionine and cysteine amino acids which generally all plant-based protein food lacks
  • High antioxidant and inflammation reducing capacity: It contains flavonoids like quercetin and kaempferol which help in acting as an antioxidant, anti-viral, anti-cancer and anti-depressant
  • Fibre-rich grain source: 17-27gm of fibre is found in 1 cup of Quinoa (185gm approximately) which is a lot more as compared to other grains, which helps in reducing the total fat/lipid percentage in the body
  • Helps in Improving Blood Sugar Control: One definitely because of its fibre-protein content and another because it contains compounds that inhibit alpha-glucosidase, one of the enzymes involved in digesting carbohydrates, resulting in the delayed breakdown of carbohydrates and hence slow release of sugar in the blood
  • Because of its high magnesium content (1 cup cooked quinoa can provide one-third of daily requirement), it is recommended to have it often to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes
  • Helps in reducing weight: As Quinoa is high in fibres, proteins and has a low glycemic index, it can make one feel fuller for a longer time, reducing frequent hunger pangs
  • The nutritional content of one cup of cooked quinoa is 222 calories and 4 grams of fat; with 39 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fibre and 8 grams of protein

Quinoa also contains few anti-nutrients like saponins, phytic acid and oxalates. However, they do not affect health when cooked properly. It can be used as a replacement for any grain like rice, or can be added to cold salads, soups, sprouts, etc. Click here for some interesting recipes you can try using Quinoa. 

We hope this article on Quinoa helps you! Do share your thoughts in the comments below! To learn more about grains, food and healthy eating in general, check out Healthy Reads within the GOQii App or tune in to nutrition experts LIVE on GOQii Play. 

#BeTheForce 

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