Cook Peruvian quinoa the Malaysian way

Replace the rice and serve your chicken curry with quinoa. Photos: The Star/Raymond Ooi

Ambassador of Peru to Malaysia Guido Loayza is a talented cook who is so obsessed with food that he even admits to dreaming about it in his sleep.

He likes cooking Peruvian food and developing the dishes further by incorporating local ingredients that are easily available to him.

One of the ingredients that Loayza loves cooking with is quinoa, a staple food in Peru (see his recipe for Quinoa Huancaina). Here, he prepares two dishes using the grain and with a Malaysian twist.

QUINOA AND CHICKEN CURRY

Serves 8

For the chicken curry

3 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces

200g Thai green curry paste

1 stalk lemongrass

fish sauce to taste

sugar to taste

3-4 kaffir lime leaves, crushed

200ml coconut milk

1-2 cooked sweet potato, cubed (optional)

For the quinoa

1 cup organic quinoa, rinsed

2 cups water

To make chicken curry

In a large pot, stir in curry paste and cook for 1 minute, stirring all the time. Add chicken pieces and stir until they are coated in paste. Add the lemongrass, fish sauce, sugar, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk.

Bring slowly to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes until chicken is cooked. Add cooked sweet potatoes at the end and stir to coat with sauce.

To cook quinoa

In a pot, add quinoa and water, bring to a boil, then cover and leave to simmer unil cooked. Fluff with a fork once done.

Quinoa pudding made with coconut.

SWEET QUINOA COCONUT DESSERT

Serves 6 to 8

For the quinoa

1 cup organic quinoa, rinsed

2 cups fresh coconut water

For the coconut dessert

1 can (395g) condensed milk

1 can (354ml) evaporated milk

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise

1 clove

orange peel from one navel orange

1/4 cup fresh grated coconut

For the decoration

handful of raisins, soaked in Pisco (optional)

cinnamon powder, for dusting

To cook quinoa

In a saucepan, add quinoa and coconut water and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat, cover and simmer until cooked. Fluff with a fork once done and set aside.

To cook coconut dessert

In a stockpot, combine the condensed milk, evaporated milk, coconut milk, cinnamon stick, star anise, clove and orange peel.

Simmer on low heat for about 25 minutes and stir constantly so mixture doesn’t stick to the base of the pot.

Once it thickens, stir in cooked quinoa and grated coconut. Remove from heat and set aside.

To assemble

Spoon quinoa dessert into individual dessert glasses. Sprinkle with raisins and dust cinnamon powder on top.

Serve hot or refrigerate for a few hours and serve cold.