• About Me
  • Coaching
  • Work with me
  • In media

Saffron Trail

healthy vegetarian cooking

  • Home
  • Breakfast
  • Salads
  • Nutrition
  • Food & Travel
  • Home
  • Breakfast
  • Salads
  • Nutrition
  • Food & Travel
Nutrition, Vegetables

Cracked wheat with tons of veggies

March 10, 2008

2
Shares

This dish is modeled after the excellent Vegetable Baath that my mom makes. Baath is nothing to do with bathing, but this is a rice dish, that has loads of vegetables that are finely chopped, sauteed with whole spices and spice powders. The cooked rice is then cooled and delicately hand-mixed with the spiced vegetables. My favourite accompaniment to this is a ripe banana pachchadi (raita), the recipe for which I must share with you once I manage to capture a picture of this. This darn thing is so delicious that waiting to take a pic is an ultimate test of resolve

Here, I have not bothered to cook the veggies and wheat separately but cooked the wheat in a sort of stock where the vegetables have been half cooked. Next time, I intend to do it the way mom does it for the ‘baath’ and will update the results here

The result of the dish below is a cross between an upma and a pulao, which could have been due to some confusion in my head. The dals, ginger and curry leaves are the seasoning that are done in case of upmas and the whole spices are from the pulao end of the spectrum. You could use either one or both of them

Cracked wheat with tons of veggies

This dish is modeled after the excellent Vegetable Baath that my mom makes. Baath is nothing to do with bathing, but this is a rice dish, that has loads of vegetables that are finely chopped, sauteed with whole spices and spice powders. The cooked rice is then cooled and delicately hand-mixed with t
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 cup wheat cracked , medium sized
  • 1/2 tsp ghee butter /
  • green peas Fresh
  • Green beans
  • Carrots
  • Cauliflower
  • Cabbage
  • Spinach
  • Fenugreek greens
  • Capsicum
  • 2 tsps olive oil
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 - 5 cloves
  • 1 - 2 cinnamon sticks of
  • 2 cardamoms green
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp dal udad
  • 1 tsp chana dal
  • 1 tsp green chillies chopped
  • 1/2 tsp ginger finely grated
  • 1 - 2 chillies dried red , broken
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 1/2 tsps salt

Method
 

  1. In a large wok, heat the ghee / butter and saute the cracked wheat for 3-4 minutes on medium flame till fragrant. Remove in a bowl. Cover with 3 cups of boiling hot water, cover and keep aside.
  2. In the same wok, heat the olive oil and add the whole spices (bay leaves, cloves, cumin, cardamom). After 30 seconds, add the mustard seeds. Let them crackle, and follow it with the udad dal and chana dal. These need to be sauteed for 1 minute on low to medium flame to turn them golden brown.
  3. Next, add the green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, red chillies. Stir them around for a minute or so, and transfer all the chopped veggies and greens into the wok. Add half the salt, sprinkle with water and cover with a tight fitting lid. Give it a stir every 2 minutes with more sprinkles of water. OR Place a thali (a dish with a rim) with one cup water in it to cover the wok and let the veggies cook for 6-8 minutes till almost tender.
  4. At this point, tip the bowl with the cracked wheat in hot water, into the wok. Add the spice powders (turmeric powder, sambhar powder), remaining salt, stir well and cover until the cracked wheat is cooked till tender. This will take around 6-8 minutes depending on size of the grains. Adjust salt and spiciness. Fluff with a fork and remove into a serving bowl.
  5. Serve hot with a bowl of chilled raita.

Notes

This is perfect when I don't want to fuss over making dinner. This one pot dish is nutritious, filling and tasty as well, and it is just right to send over to Meeta's Monthly Mingle : One dish dinners.
by Nandita Iyer 
20 Comments

About Nandita Iyer

View all posts by Nandita Iyer

Related Posts

  • Oats and Mango Breakfast Smoothie : WBB # 13
  • Kaya Mezhukkupuratti | Kerala Style Plantain stir fry | Vazhakka Mezhukkupuratti
  • healthy breakfast ideas using oatsHealthy breakfast ideas using oats
  • Fattoush, Baba Ganouj and Lebanese food
previous post: Sprouts for breakfast – Healthy eats WBB
next post: Eggless Date Walnut Cake

Comments

  1. Raaga says: March 10, 2008 at 10:10 am

    yummy 🙂 I tend to pressure cook everything 🙂

    Reply
  2. A. Grace says: March 10, 2008 at 11:41 am

    wowza, that looks amazing! i love it when healthy foods are tasty and beautiful!

    Reply
  3. Sowmya Madhavan says: March 10, 2008 at 2:53 pm

    nice healthy recipe..thanks for sharing..

    Reply
  4. Uma says: March 10, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    Looks so yummy! On a healthy note, it is good too! Lovey Pic.

    Reply
  5. Vaishali says: March 10, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    Looks delicious, Nandita. And it couldn’t be any healthier!

    Reply
  6. Namratha says: March 10, 2008 at 5:38 pm

    That looks gorgeous! Love the idea of cooking them together, I have a whole lot of cracked wheat sitting around.

    Reply
  7. Mansi says: March 10, 2008 at 6:26 pm

    that looks healthy and tasty Nandita!:) high in fiber and vitamins:)

    Reply
  8. Meeta K. Wolff says: March 10, 2008 at 7:01 pm

    Gorgeous! We are far too alike Nandita – my better half I would say. I mean how else would you explain having the same likings in food, posting almost them same dish on the same day for the same event LOL!Hugs to you and thank you for the great entry.

    Reply
  9. KayKat says: March 10, 2008 at 7:52 pm

    Mmm … cauliflower, spinach, fenugreek and more! This is a serious veggie explosion.Love it 🙂

    Reply
  10. musical says: March 11, 2008 at 12:21 am

    Healthy, one pot meal! What better can one ask for :).

    Reply
  11. Srivalli says: March 11, 2008 at 1:19 am

    nandita…that looks great…looks like you have been busy not posting many?..

    Reply
  12. Revathi says: March 11, 2008 at 2:19 am

    Now that is really a tonne of veggies…I wish someone just passover a bowl of that !!

    Reply
  13. Anjali says: March 11, 2008 at 4:38 am

    Farm fresh ..yum.

    Reply
  14. sandhya says: March 12, 2008 at 2:03 pm

    Nice recipe… i never cooked cracked wheat wih vegetables… thanks for sharing it..

    Reply
  15. desigirl says: March 20, 2008 at 7:03 pm

    Ok, dumb q alert! Is this cracked wheat same as bulghur wheat? I have that as well as something we call sambha godhumai (generally used to make upma). Which one do i use? Neither? either? Please help!

    Reply
  16. nandita says: March 21, 2008 at 11:56 am

    DG, sorry, i should have been more specific…you can use the sambha godhumai or its also called Bansi ravai – or else use cracked wheat itself or bulghar. Anything would be fine. Just take care to vary the cooking time accordingly.

    Reply
  17. desigirl says: March 22, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    Oh thanks for the clarification, Nandita! I tried it with bulghur whear and it tasted out of the world. I want to try it next time with the samba godhumai and see the difference. I found this recipe extremely useful as it could be made so quickly – esp since I used frozen veg from my freezer! I have a maternal fam history of diabetes and am keen to learn how to control / avoid it. SO thank you and pls keep ’em coming!!

    Reply
  18. desigirl says: April 11, 2008 at 8:21 am

    Can I just say – this recipe has become our staple in less than a fortnight! I even made this for a quick dinner when the hubby’s cousins dropped in unexpectedly for dinner and it was a massive hit. the healthy aspect of it was praised high and low and even my MOTHER in LAW (has to be a record) has requested it!! howzzat?

    Reply
  19. Deee says: May 30, 2008 at 3:06 pm

    Hey i loved your blog..and this is one of my all time fav recipes..to make it more wholesome u can even add moongdal/sprouted moong..and pressure cook once..

    Reply
  20. PreeOccupied says: April 18, 2010 at 9:27 pm

    Isn’t this the most nutritious breakfast or brunch you can have any time of the year? My Mum-in-law makes this and serves it with boiled eggs, I used to love the dalia-veggie breakfast. Your recipe of course is more interesting with all those lentils added to it. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

Leave Your Comments Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating





Click for details

Buy my books

Amazon Storefront

Subscribe to my newsletter

Subscribe to My Channel

Archives

Categories

Featured Recipes

  • Salad Recipes
  • Tamil Vegetarian Recipes
  • Summer Recipes
  • Millet Recipes
  • Airfryer Recipes
  • Eggless Baking Recipes
  • Vegetable Recipes
  • Kerala Recipes

AS FEATURED IN

Copyright © 2025 · Saffron Trail by Nandita Iyer · Privacy & Disclosure Policy · Hosted & Managed by Host My Blog

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OKPrivacy Policy