Quinoa Upma- a great no-fuss breakfast/ brunch

Uppma made from quinoa is a different- and even more nutritious- version of the traditional semolina-based dish.

We didn't write down a recipe for this one, as it was just thrown together as part of a lunch (school holidays mean proper cooked lunches in our house...), but it was so delicious we're now wishing we had! Upma, as some of you will already know, is traditionally made with semolina (suji) and there are a number of delicious-looking recipes circulating in blogosphere that use oats as well. We are not the first to think up a version of upma using quinoa, either but our version is so super-simple (we bypassed the dry roasting) to make in only one pan we felt it was worth mentioning. It also lends itself well to catering for a number of people if you have guests to entertain. We used 1 1/2 cups of quinoa to 3 cups of water for 6 people and left out the fresh chillis and instead served it with a mango, lime and chilli chutney.

You can use any vegetables, such as sweet potato, peas, sweetcorn, green banana/ plantain, cauliflower, coriander leaf, coconut, green beans etc.- the more the merrier! You don't have to bother with any dal as the quinoa provides a good source of protein anyway. The seasoning was just seasalt and some hot Madras curry powder. We simply stir-fried the veg and seasonings in some cold-pressed sunflower oil, then added the quinoa and water and left on a gentle heat, stirring from time to time, until the quinoa was cooked and the water was absorbed. You can't get much easier than that, now can you?