It’s been a long time. I hope you enjoyed the Navrathri school break. I may have enjoyed the holidays more than Hasini and Yuvan.
When Yuvan woke up and realized he had to go to school, he whined and pleaded. I told him firmly he had to go to school. He had had a good break. He needed to get back to his routine. After their school van disappeared around the corner, I sat down with my cup of lemon and honey and mentally ran through my master list of excuses to not go to gym –
“I needed a break” – I was already in one.
“I was tired” – Not really
“I was late. I didn’t have time” – Not applicable
“I just didn’t feel like working out. I have to listen to my body” – This seemed most appropriate. So I went with it.
I just didn’t feel like working out. I had to listen to my body. So I skipped gym. I sat sipping my drink thinking of what else I could get out of.
Double beans curry, quinoa & roasted veggies
The after-holiday blues are always so hard to fight off. I don’t want to cook. I don’t want to do the laundry. I don’t want to work out. I want to stay on the couch all day, undisturbed.
Days like these I make my laziest meals. I hope to slowly get back into the grind. I have plenty of posts I planned to write and a host of de-cluttering to do around the house but never got around to. I am looking forward to breaking though the ennui and getting all of them done. Good luck to all of you in beating the post-holiday slow-down!
Double beans curry, quinoa & roasted veggies
The recipe I have today can easily be a lazy meal too if you remember to soak the double beans the previous night. Just dump everything in a pressure cook and cook until soft and your desired curry consistency. Serve over quinoa or hot steamed rice. Top with a fried egg if you want to up your curry and rice game. Serve hot. Enjoy!
- Double beans – 200 gm (soaked overnight)
- Tomatoes – 2 large pureed
- Onion – 1 large chopped fine
- Garlic – 3 cloves minced
- Bay leaf
- Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
- Cumin powder – 1 tsp
- Sugar – ½ tsp
- Salt to taste
- Oil – 2 tbsp
- Quinoa – 200 gm
- Water – Twice the volume of quinoa
- Cauliflower florets – 2 cups
- Baby corn – 2 cups
- Salt to taste
- Pepper powder – ¾ tsp
- Olive oil – 2 tbsp
- Soak the double beans overnight.
- To a pressure cooker, add oil and turn heat to medium.
- When the oil turns hot, add the bay leaf, onions and garlic and fry till the garlic colours and the onions turn translucent.
- Drain the water from the soaked double beans, rinse a couple of times and transfer the double beans to the pressure cooker.
- Pour in the tomato puree and add the spice powders. Mix well. Add about a cup of water, mix well, cover and pressure-cook till the double beans are cooked soft – about 15 minutes.
- Open the pressure cooker, transfer the contents to a pan or kadai and cook or medium-high heat till the curry thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add sugar and mix well. Switch off when the curry is your desired consistency.
- Measure quinoa. For one cup quinoa, use two cups of water. For 2 cups quinoa use 4 cups of water. Pour into a pan and bring to a boil. Add the rinsed quinoa to the boiling water, lower heat to minimum, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Switch off and keep covered. After 10 minutes, all the water should have been absorbed and the grains nice and cooked soft. Fluff with a fork. Set aside.
- Combine the baby corn and cauliflower in a large bowl and toss together with salt, olive oil and pepper powder. Roast in an oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes or stovetop till browned on all sides.
- Ladle double beans curry over cooked quinoa. Add the roasted veggies. Enjoy!
