Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Cooking with Buckwheat Groats


Buckwheat groats are the newest addition to the diet.
I've made the following with presoaked (8 hrs)
buckwheat groats. These have to be washed well - there's some slime that needs to be sloughed off.

1. Buckwheat kanji:
Dry the presoaked groats, and roast well with a little ghee. If you don't want to presoak, that is fine, I just think that the presoaking somehow makes the grain easier to digest.
pressure cook with some saffron, cardamom and a fruit (apple or pear, you can use a banana if its ok to use).
Blend with 2 tsp nut milk (optional) and some honey (optional).

2. Buckwheat adai: grind presoaked groats, cilantro, curry leaves, cumin, green chillies, salt to taste - add as little water as needed to make adais (pancake batter consistency). Add finely chopped veggies (onions, cabbage,grated zucchini, carrots) as desired. Pour ladlefuls of batter on a hot griddle and spread. turn over when golden brown and serve hot.
You can also add sprouted mung, or presoaked toor/split pea dal to the groats while grinding the batter. ( 1 dal: 4 buckwheat ratio)


3. Buckwheat idlis

Make batter as for buckwheat adai, skip the veggies/dal. Add 1 tsp of baking soda and pour into idli moulds.
These idlis came out a little hard, but still workable. I tailored this recipe by adding fresh shredded coconut, 1 zucchini and about 1/2 bunch of spinach. This seems to make the idlis a lot softer. The taste is reminiscent of the savory version of "Nonb Adai"

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