These past two weeks the husband has been packing lunch to take to work. What brought about the change, I have no idea! He simply loves eating out and never gets tired of it.
Anyhoo, coming back to the recipe Chitrangada of Color & Spices (a fellow KFBian) is running this week’s show on Kolkata Food Bloggers and her theme is One Pot Meals. Even though I cook the quinoa beforehand, I thought this would be a perfect recipe for her event.
Quinoa Chicken ‘Fried Rice’ is something that I make often – it is loaded with all sorts of veggies and makes for a very wholesome meal.
I would have made Quinoa Chicken ‘Fried Rice’ for this event but I ran out of ingredients and time. But I will share the recipe next week, I promise!
Ingredients
- Chicken – 1 lb boneless, cut into bit-size pieces (use bone-in, if you wish) and marinated
- Onions – 1 Cup, thinly sliced into half-moons
- Whole Garam Masala – 1/2 inch cinnamon stick, 2 green cardamoms and 2 cloves
- Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
- Bay leaf – 1
- Quinoa – 3 Cups, cooked (How to cook Quinoa)
- Mint leaves – 3 or 4 crushed
- Cilantro – a handful, finely chopped
- Green chilies – 2 or 3, slit (use more if you prefer more heat)
- Salt to taste
- Oil – 1 tbsp
- Little water
- Grated Garlic – 2 tbsp
- Grated Ginger – 1 tbsp
- Greek Yogurt/Hung Curd – 3 tbsp
- Lemon Juice – 1 tbsp
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
- Cumin powder – 1 tsp
- Coriander powder – 1 tsp
- Paprika – 1 tsp (use red chili powder if you prefer more heat)
- Garam masala – 1/2 tsp (Spice mix of 1/2 inch cinnamon stick, 2 green cardamoms and 2 cloves)
- Crushed black pepper – 1/2 tsp
- A fat pinch of salt
Once the spices start spluttering, add the onions and fry till they caramelize. Throw in the chicken pieces and fry till cooked through. Add the crush mint leaves, give it a quick stir and dump the cooked quinoa. Stir everything together. Add little water if required. Taste and adjust for seasoning, cover and cook (on medium heat) till everything comes together nicely and most of the water has evaporated.
Sprinkle a handful of chopped cilantro and take it off the heat. Serve with a side of salad.
