Simple, practical, and full of everyday flavour, Quinoa Upma Recipe is a vegan, vegetarian Indian breakfast made with uncooked quinoa, organic canola or safflower oil, and mustard seeds in about 45 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 35 minutes
- Total time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 tsp organic canola or safflower oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp urad dal (split black gram or use mung dal (petite yellow lentils))
- 1 green chili chopped (remove seeds to adjust spice if needed)
- a generous pinch of asafeotida hing (optional (omit to make gluten-free or use certified gf asafetida))
- 10 curry leaves (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
- 2 Tbsp chopped cashews
- 1/2 inch ginger minced (1 tsp grated)
- 1/2 cup chopped carrots
- 1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen (thawed))
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups water
- cilantro and lemon juice for garnish
Method
- Wash the quinoa several times, drain and keep aside.
- In a medium skillet, add oil and heat at medium. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and urad dal and let them sputter or sizzle for 15 seconds.
- Add chili, asafeotida and curry leaves and cook for half a minute.
- Add onions and cashews and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until translucent.
- Add ginger, carrots, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add quinoa and roast for 2 minutes with the veggies.
- Add salt, water, peas, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-medium, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Let the quinoa sit covered for 5 minutes. then uncover, fluff and serve. Garnish with cilantro and generous lemon juice. Serve as a side, or as breakfast with hot masala chai.
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.
