Indian Style Lemon Quinoa Recipe

Lemon quinoa served in a bowl with roasted peanuts on the side.

5 from 2 votes

Lemon Quinoa is a South Indian style lemon rice made with quinoa. Quinoa is cooked and sautéed with onions and in a tempering of mustard seeds, lentils, curry leaves,turmeric.

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Indian

Keyword #lemon quinoa, indian quinoa recipes, instant pot, quinoa lemon, quinoa recipes

Diet Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Method Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings

Calories 440kcal

Author Bhavana Patil

Equipment

Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

For Cooking Quinoa

½ cup raw quinoa
1 cup water (¾ cup water for instant pot)
salt to taste

For Lemon Quinoa

1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tablespoons peanuts
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds
1 teaspoon urad dal
2 green chilies finely chopped
1 stalk curry leaves
1 pinch hing (asafetida)
1 small onion finely chopped
½ teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste
juice of half lemon
2 tablespoons coriander leaves

Instructions

Stovetop Method:

How to Cook Quinoa:
On Stovetop Pot: Cook the ½ cup of rinsed quinoa with 1 cup of water on medium-low heat until cooked, and let it cool.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker: Pressure cook the ½ cup of rinsed quinoa with 1 cup of water for two whistles on medium-low heat. Let the pressure release naturally.
In Instant Pot (Electric Pressure Cooker): Pressure cook the ½ cup of rinsed quinoa with ¾ cup of water on MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK mode for 1 minute. Let the pressure release naturally. Check the detailed recipe.
How to make Lemon Quinoa:
In a Kadai, add oil. Once it's hot, add in the peanuts and fry them until they turn slightly golden brown. Take them out and keep them aside.
In the same Kadai, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, and saute until the dal turns light brown.
Then add green chiles, curry leaves, hing, and saute for a few seconds.
Next, add the chopped onions, turmeric, and saute until the onions turn light brown.
Turn off the flame, add the cooked quinoa, salt, and juice of half lemon, and mix everything well.
Garnish with Coriander leaves and roasted peanuts and serve Indian Style Lemon Quinoa hot with papad or pickle.

Instant Pot Method:

Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add oil once it's hot, add in the peanuts, and fry them until they turn slightly golden brown. Take out and keep them aside.
Then add mustard seeds, jeera, urad dal, saute till dal turns light brown in color. Then add green chilies, curry leaves, hing and saute for few seconds.
Next add in the chopped onions, turmeric, and saute till onions turn light brown in color.
Add rinsed quinoa, water, salt, and mix well.
Close the lid on the pot, and turn the pressure valve to SEALING position.
Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 2 minute. When the instant pot beeps, Let the pressure release naturally.
Remove lid away from you, Add roasted peanuts, lemon juice, and garnish with fresh cilantro/coriander leaves. Gently mix everything together.
Enjoy Instant Pot Quinoa Lemon Rice with pickle, papad, and raita.

Notes

Tips to make Perfect Lemon Quinoa

Rinsing Quinoa: Rinse quinoa in water 1-2 times to remove the bitter coating (saponin) and dirt from the quinoa.
Don't Overcook Quinoa: Cook the Quinoa until it is tender. If you overcook it, it will become mushy.
Cook with vegetable broth: Cooking quinoa with broth instead of water adds more flavor to the dish.
Cool the Quinoa to Room Temperature: Make sure to cool the quinoa to room temperature before tempering, it to get fluffy and nonsticky quinoa.
Water-to-quinoa Ratio: Be careful about the water-to-quinoa ratio since you want lemon quinoa rice with each grain separate and fluffier.
Add Lemon juice at the end: Always add lemon juice after switching off the flame, followed by a quick mix. This preserves the fresh taste of the lemon juice and prevents it from having a bitter flavor.

Variations and Notes

Other Grains: You can simply replace quinoa with millets to make another healthier option.
Add Vegetables: You can add vegetables such as carrots, bell peppers, green beans, peas, or broccoli for extra nutrition.
Raw Mangoes: If mangoes are in season, you can add ¼ cup of grated raw mango during tempering, which gives a nice twist to this quinoa. Here is the recipe for Raw Mango Rice.
Lemon Zest: You can also add a little lemon zest to the lemon quinoa rice. It adds a zing and great flavor to the dish.
No Onion: You can skip onions to make a no-onion lemon quinoa recipe.

Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition