Sunday, November 15, 2009

Potato Curry with Flax and Quinoa

Before I became aware of concepts like cutting carbs to lose weight , potatoes was one of my favorite vegetables and used to feature regularly in my kitchen. They also functioned as my favorite fall back plan, either when I ran out of ideas or the vegetable drawer in my refrigerator started to get empty. Unfortunately as is the case with many other foods I like...., potatoes too are neither very diet friendly nor superlatively healthy. So it rarely appears in my menu now and even when it does, it is included along with a chock full of other vegetables that satisfy my need for nutrition.

Yesterday though, I had a serious craving for some type of potato curry that I could use as filling for sandwiches that I planned for lunch. My mind refused to budge from the idea of making potatoes, so I decided to try and make it as nutritious as possible. And what can be more nutritious than a combination of sesame, flax, quinoa and peanuts. I dry roasted each of these along with other spices, powdered it and used it to spice up my curry. I absolutely adored how this curry turned out, it was very subtly flavored and tasted fantastic in sandwiches.I am sure this will taste just as good as a side for rice and dhal or stuffing for parathas (Stuffed Indian flat bread) or just to go with plain chapathis or rotis (Indian flat bread)

Potato curry with flax and quinoa


Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Potato Peas curry with flax and quinoa

4 medium white potatoes cooked and mashed (Yielded 2 cups of mashed potatoes)
1 cup green peas (either fresh or frozen)


For the ground spice mixture
3 tbsp raw or roasted unsalted peanuts
3 tbsp quinoa (see notes)
4 tbsp brown sesame seeds
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds (dhania)
3 tbsp flax seed meal (powdered flax seeds ) (see notes) ( also known as Alsi)
3 dry whole red chillies (or according to taste)
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt according to taste (I used approximately 1 1/4 tsp salt for this quantity)

Cook the potatoes with their skin either in a pressure cooker or on the stove top. Cool slightly, skin the potatoes and mash it roughly. This yielded me about 2 cups of mashed potatoes

In a heavy bottomed pan dry roast each of the ingredients mentioned in the ground spice mixture until it turns reddish/ brownish and exudes aroma. If using roasted unsalted peanuts skip the roasting for the peanuts. Keep the roasted ingredients aside to cool thoroughly.

In the same heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and add cumin seeds to it. When the cumin seeds splutter, add turmeric powder and green peas to it and saute the green peas until it is soft and cooked but not mushy. ( I used frozen thawed green peas so it cooked within a few minutes, fresh green peas may take a little longer to cook. If using fresh green peas sprinkle a little water to cook it faster)

Powder the roasted spices in a spice grinder until it turns into a fairly fine powder and keep aside.

The copyright of this content belongs to Veginspirations.comAdd the cooked mashed potatoes to this, then add salt to taste and sprinkle the spice powder and mix well.

Let this mixture cook for a few minutes until all the flavors blend.

Serve hot with Indian flat bread (roti's) or as a side dish with rice or use it as a filling in sandwiches (as I did.... )

Serves approximately 4

Notes

In case you do not have quinoa try using 1 1/2 tbsp of flax seed/ flax seed meal and 1 1/2 tbsp sesame seed in its place

I used flax seed meal (powdered flax seeds) because I had that available, you could just as easily use flax seeds and powder it fine along with the other spices

35 comments :

Priya Suresh said...

Wow wat a healthy twist Usha..looks yummyilicious..

Sreelekha Sumesh said...

Thanks alot for visiting my blog and ur lovely comments.Nice potato curry..very yummy and flavourful..

Cham said...

I love the masala u added!

Sonia said...

Hi Usha, first time here.
Nice idea about adding flax seeds and quinoa.:)

Pam said...

I am always looking for new quinoa recipes - this looks delicious.

Malar Gandhi said...

THats indeed a very unique twist, sounds super healthy to me...lovely picture:)

Nandinis food said...

Very Healthy dish Usha! Nice idea of adding flax and quinoa. Lovely presentation!

Unknown said...

Potato curry with a quiona...sounds super gud!

lata raja said...

It is certainly haelthy additives to the potatoes. You really can give in to your craving, yet give a healthy alternative.

CurryLeaf said...

Unique curry.Never ever tried flax in a curry.

Finla said...

It is so clever adding these things which are so good for us.
Loosk delish.

indosungod said...

I can't live without potatoes Usha, but this version looks great. The boiled version is not bad as the fried ones right but carb overload yes.

Kothiyavunu said...

Wow.. this is really a tasty dish. :) looks delicious and perfect combo with rice..
Thank u for stopping by kothiyavunu and for ur sweet comments.

Gita Jaishankar said...

Awesome curry Usha...these days I too started adding a teaspoon of flaxseeds in every curry I make...adding quinoa is a good idea :)

Unknown said...

Thats a healthy way of having potatoes..very nice..

A_and_N said...

I love how you like making things healthy!

Anupama said...

I've been trying to cut my carbs lately and using quinoa twice a week for dinners... this would be a healthy variation of using quinoa actually... nice!

Mythreyi Dilip said...

You made the potato curry really healthy and delicious Usha. I use flax seeds powder while making chapathi, but never tried adding to curries. Thanks for the idea!

Mythreyi Dilip said...

I love to try variety of cuisines, this would be a delectable dish to try:)

Unknown said...

love the healthy additions...looks awesome..

Uma said...

this is such a healthy combo. looks so delicious :)

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Healthy and yummy recipe, looks delicious.

miss v said...

wow. that looks like one bowl of awesomeness, without the guilt. i too love potato curry, so this is going into my recipe box!

ps- i love the use of quinoa!

Myvegfare said...

I have book marked it, looks so gorgeous, beautiful picture, and what a healthy version!!,

Devasena Hariharan said...

Hi Usha,
Thanx for your comment in my blog. Your badam halwa, mysore pak and milk fudge makes my mouth water.

Also you have nice photographic skills, you have taken the pics very well, in nice angles. The beauty of your cooking is enhanced further by ur photos..

Preeti Kashyap said...

you really deserve all the accolades for coming up with such a healthy potato dish! Yipeee!

Prajusha said...

This looks healthy.i ahve read that flax seeds is good for lowering cholesterol.
beautiful pic.
thanks
prajusha
www.icookipost.com

Bindhu Unny said...

Loved your blog.
I too use potato sparingly and this looks like a nice recipe to have potatoes. I haven't heard about quinoa, so will have to use more flax seeds and sesame seeds.
Thanks for sharing this. :)

Urmi said...

I liked your blog very much. You are welcome in my blogs.
I appreciate for your wonderful presentation. I love potato very much. Looks yummy and delicious.

Latha said...

Sounds intereting....
Thanks for dropping by my blog and for your lovely comments.

You have a wonderful space here and I admire your presentation.

Sum Raj said...

sounds unique and great dish

Vaishali said...

I am a huge potato fan too and I could eat if for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but as you point out, they are high in carbs and while they're far from healthy, they are certainly not as healthy as some other veggies can be. I try to sneak them in by adding them along with other veggies in curries and sambars-- that way I get my potato fix without overloading on just potatoes :)
I love this potato curry recipe. The idea of sprinkling a spice mix with flax in it is absolutely divine.

Karine said...

That is an original and amazing way to cook with potatoes! Thanks for sharing :)

Soma said...

We eat a lot of quinoa, never thought of using it in a curry!! WOW..

Harini said...

hey, nice space here..was looking for ideas to use quinoa and flaxseed in Indian type of cooking (specifically in masala/chutney powders!!) and stumbled here..Good find, I must say!!

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