There are a lot of health benefits of incorporating whole grains into one’s diet. High-fiber foods like whole grains provide a feeling of fullness at fewer calories. And the easiest way to use these grains is by substituting in different traditional recipes 🙂 You can find a lot of recipes with oats, cracked wheat and quinoa on my blog – these are all spin-offs of some Indian dish made using rice.
But cooking with whole grains has different challenges – the texture and the flavor are going to be different from the usual taste one is used to. No, the dish is not less tasty – it just tastes different 🙂 Adding spices and herbs is a great way to add flavor to whole grains. In this pilaf, I have cooked broken wheat along with a mildly spicy mint-cilantro sauce. I added in some veggies to make this a complete meal. This dish has it all -the whole grain, the veggies and all the flavor! I love cracked wheat because it is slightly chewy and that makes the dish taste unique – it makes the dish more rustic and appealing. Serve this along with some yogurt or salad on the side for a quick weeknight dinner.
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2/3 cup broken wheat
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1 1/2 cup mint leaves (2 small bunches)
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1/2 cup cilantro (1 small bunch)
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1/2 tsp cumin seeds
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4-5 dried red chillies
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About 300 grams mixed veggies (I used green beans, broccoli, peas, carrot and corn)
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Salt to taste
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1 tsp oil
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 20 min
Servings: 2-3
Method
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Wash the broken wheat thoroughly in water 2 or 3 times. Chop the veggies and prep them.
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Take the cilantro, mint, cumin seeds and red chilies in a blender. Add water as required and blend to a smooth paste.
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Take a large saucepan and heat 1 tsp oil in it. Add the mint-cilantro sauce to the oil. Add the veggies and broken wheat also to this. Add 1 cup of water to this. (You can add water as required later on) Add salt also to this.
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On high heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium, place a lid on the pan and let the mixture simmer.
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Broken wheat takes about 15-20 minutes to cook. Keep checking in between and giving the mixture a stir to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add water as required – depending on the consistency of the mint sauce you added you might require more or less water.
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The wheat will puff up once it is done. Turn off the heat. Give everything a good mix. Adjust salt/spice to taste. You can add some lemon juice if you like. Serve hot with some cool yogurt dip on the side.
