Seed Bread & Buckwheat Crisps

I dreamt about non-urban lifestyle long before we moved to the countryside last year.

When I was a kid, my family had a small island where we spent our summers. There weren’t neighbors, electricity, or running water. Whether it shined or rained, my brother and I splashed in the lake, swimming and playing like a pair of trout. Once a week we made a boat trip to the mainland to buy staple foods from a store on wheels, and then my mother fermented yogurt, viili (Nordic sour curd) and buttermilk which we kept cool in an excavation, dug in the ground. Every July wild blueberries and lingonberries surrounded the cottage, and we munched them directly from the bushes. There was a bigger island nearby to where we rowed to pick bucketfuls of wild strawberries, raspberries, and mushrooms in the end of each summer.

When we reached puberty, my brother and I refused to go to the island. It wasn’t hip, and we couldn’t stay apart from our friends for three months a year. As teenagers, we viewed such a vacation as a punishment and, during our last holiday, I plotted how to flee away after reading a memoir by Henri Charriére, called Papillon, which described his escape from a penal colony in French Guiana.

Seeing our resistance, my parents sold the summer house when my brother was sixteen and I was fifteen years old. It took me three years to realize what a loss it was. That’s when I started to romanticize about country-dwelling.

Last December, after having lived in fairly primitive conditions for eight months, the reality of my rustic life-choice finally hit me. In an early morning, as I was going to the basement to burn wood, I became aware that this is how the rest of my days will look like. The goal of downshifting, gardening, chopping wood and shoveling snow had become a part of my field but, all of a sudden, it appeared so ordinary and even burdensome! For the first time, I saw the cellar wasn’t a sanctuary but a cold and damp dungeon where I sat two hours every dawn, meditating, while poking the fire after every 108^th mantra, and while having eight legged spiders crawling on me. The walls and the ceiling I had whitewashed in the spring were already stained with soot. In panic, I wondered if smoke and tar smudged my lungs, too. Will I be able to cope with this much austerity until the end of my life? Was it a mistake to move into this shack?

The novelty of everything wears out.

Although it’s human to misplace the desire for fulfillment in material objects, positions, relationships and achievements, I’m bothered how often I still imagine that I will attain contentment by getting one more piece of chocolate or a pair of shoes; or seeing the Himalayas, changing my worldview, studying a degree, and upgrading my significant other to the latest version of husbandhood (sorry, darling)! Unfortunately it won’t happen because the soul I am underneath the flesh, blood, bones, mind and reason is fully compatible only with spiritual energy. Matter, however mesmerizing it may appear, flows on a different, temporary frequency that will always leave the soul hungry. How much longer will I keep confusing things and situations for happiness?

Happiness is a challenge because it’s a mental disposition – a fluctuating emotion – in which suffering is momentarily absent. Like any state of balance, it flips easily out of equilibrium under the influence of an opposite force. Satisfaction, on the other hand, comes from knowing the self and the soul’s relationship with both, material and spiritual nature. Because it’s a conviction anchored in the core character of the self and the purpose of life, it remains unaffected by external circumstances and time factor. If any, my resolution for 2016 is to shift the focus from becoming happy to being satisfied with what is under my care right now.

Crisp bread is not culinary luxury, like pizza and crêpe that offer instant gratification, but a necessity the Nordic folks have dried and stored for survival since 500 AD. As a poor man’s diet, it reflects a short harvest season and the hardship of winter. To me, it summarizes (when compared to any other bread) the difference between happiness and satisfaction.

Households originally baked thin crisps from wholemeal rye flour, salt and water, and hang them on sticks under the roof. Nowadays various grains and seeds are used. Here are my two gluten-free recipes:

SEED BREAD AND BUCKWHEAT CRISPS (each recipe makes about 15 breads of 20cm / 8”)

Ingredients for the seed bread:

1 Cup (250 ml) sunflower seeds

½ Cup (125 ml) green pumpkin seeds

½ Cup (125 ml) sesame seeds

4 Tbsp flaxseeds

5 Tbsp chia seeds

1 Tbsp fennel seeds

1 Tbsp dry rosemary

1 Tbsp kalonji seeds

1 ½ tsp Himalayan salt

4 Tbsp ghee, oil or melted butter

1 Cup (250 ml) boiling water

Ingredients for the buckwheat bread:

2 ½ Cups (625 ml) buckwheat flour

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

2 Tbsp chia seeds

1 ½ tsp Himalayan salt

4 Tbsp ghee, oil or melted butter

1 ½ Cup (325 ml) boiling water

Method:

For the seed bread, grind rosemary and all the seeds, except kalonji, into fine powder. Add kalonji and salt, and rub in the ghee, oil or melted butter. Finally pour in the boiling water and mix into a smooth paste. Set the dough aside to rest for 10 minutes.

For the buckwheat crisps mix the flour, seeds, salt and ghee, oil or melted butter. Pour in the boiling water and mix into a smooth paste. Set the dough aside to rest for 10 minutes. 

Make lime size balls from the dough and roll them into as thin disks as you can. It’s easier to roll the dough if you place it between two sheets of baking paper. Remove the upper layer afterwards. If you want perfectly round breads, cut them out with the help of a plate or a lid.

Bake the breads at 175 C (345 F) until they are light golden. Because they burn easily, keep the temperature steady. 

Note:

You may vary the ratio of seeds as you like, and use spices like jeera or caraway instead of what I've suggested. By adding more ghee, oil or butter, the breads will become richer and crispier. Instead of water, you may use sour cream or milk (they don’t have to be boiling hot).

Thank you.

Buckwheat Roti

One cup buckwheat flour, a good pinch of Himalayan salt, one tablespoon of ghee (or oil), and about a third of a cup water (or as much as needed for an elastic dough) – that’s the basic recipe for making buckwheat flatbread, or roti. For softer dough, use dairy – milk, yogurt or buttermilk – rather than water. Being gluten free, buckwheat doesn’t have viscosity and tends to dry up and tear apart easily. Dairy functions as glue.

Rub the ghee into the flour and salt mixture with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Fold in the liquid gradually. If you slip in too much water, add flour. There is no need to excessively knead the dough. As soon as you have formed a smooth ball, cover it and let it rest at least for thirty minutes.

Should you become an adventurous baker, incorporate mashed avocado to the flour mixture. Reduce the amount of water accordingly.

Potatoes and buckwheat go well together. Make spicy roti by adding ground jeera and black pepper, chilli, and fresh fenugreek seedlings or chopped cilantro along with the potatoes.

The stovetop baking method is straightforward. If you want fully blown, feather light breads you need two sources of heat.

First, place the flatbread on a medium hot skillet (preferably cast iron) and let it bake until tiny bubbles appear on the top and the edges curl. If you roll the bread thinly, it takes only about thirty to sixty seconds, but if you make a thicker bread, it may take one and half to two minutes to reach this point. Using metal tongs, lift the bread and place it on the top of a direct flame. It should instantly fill with hot air. If you don’t have access to fire, place a mesh a few centimeters (1 inch) above a hot burner and flip the bread over it. As soon as it puffs, remove and cover it with a cloth.

I usually skip the second part and bake the bread on a skillet by flipping it over continuously while tenderly pressing and encouraging it to cook properly. At some point I brush a little bit ghee on the top. With this method, the bread formulates many smaller air pockets instead of becoming like a balloon.

Happy baking!

Thank you.

Sourdough Pan Bread With Butterbean Filling

If you have been following the blog, you have noticed that I use spelt in most of the recipes that call for flour. Because I’m frequently asked about it, it is a good subject to explore.

There are a couple of theories of the roots of spelt (Triticum spelta), an ancient hybrid of emmer wheat (Triticum diococcoides) and wild goat-grass (Aegilops tauschii). It remains unresolved whether it has two separate origins in Asia and Europe, or a single one in Mesopotamia (modern Iran), where it grew prior bread wheat, around 6000 BC. The earliest archaeological evidence of spelt, in Central Europe, is from the Eneolithic Period (2500–1700 BC). In the late Iron Age (750-15 BC) it became a principal wheat species in southern Germany and Switzerland. It wasn’t until the 20^th Century that it was replaced by bread wheat due to the mechanization of agriculture. Unlike wheat, spelt is stored and shipped with a tough outer husk intact which, although ensuring the freshness of flour, makes it laborious and more expensive to produce. Today, the revival of organic farming has made this peasants' staple food of the past available again. Most of the spelt products on the market have an artisan flavour for being carefully stone-milled.

Spelt (Triticum aestivum ssp. spelta) that was introduced to America in the 1890’s is a sub-species of common wheat and, therefore, different from pure spelt. In the old continent it has been grown as feed for livestock for hundreds of years. Living in Europe I’m not aware how popular pure spelt is in the US nowadays but I’m sure it is available.

Health wise, spelt is better than wheat. Even whole wheat, which has the fibre and nutrient content intact, is nutritionally inferior to it. Because spelt is highly water soluble, the nutrients are more readily absorbed by the body. It is high in protein, B vitamins, and both simple and complex carbohydrates. The complex carbohydrates are important in blood clotting and stimulating immune system. Spelt is a superb source of fibre, amino acids and minerals.

Being related to wheat, spelt is not gluten-free. However, its gluten is of less quantity and has a different molecular makeup from wheat. Those who are sensitive to wheat may find it easier to digest. In my case, it doesn’t cause dry skin, rash or headaches like wheat. Because of the fragility of gluten, spelt flour calls for less kneading and lower baking temperature. Although it doesn’t rise as much as cultivated wheat, it remains light and airy.

Spelt's has a nutty, warm flavour. It comes out strongly when whole berries are soaked and cooked as an accompaniment, like rice.

Spelt flour is excellent for baking. There are several types available: wholegrain, extra fine, all purpose, cake, bread, mixed and graham. They are milled from the separate layers of cereal and differ nutritionally and by their baking propensities. Some has soft and some elastic or even gummy viscosity. Usually less liquid is required than when baking with wheat. However, the general rule of leaving the dough rather wet than too dry, applies to spelt as well. One of the characteristics of spelt is that it feels fatty when coming in contact with water.

Earlier this fall, I became interested in using a sourdough starter as an alternative to commercial yeast that disagrees with my stomach acid and philosophy of consuming only sattvic (the mode of goodness) food. Using a starter is rewarding, however, it calls for planning. It takes about three days to activate the bacteria. Once it is alive, it can be used for baking or stored in a refrigerator. It takes from five to ten hours for a loaf of bread to rise in a warm place before baking.

Sourdough bread tastes wonderfully rustic. Today I’m sharing my favourite way of filling it with butterbean paste and baking it on an open pan. With a colourful winter salad aside, it makes a substantial breakfast, lunch or snack.

I have experimented with several kinds of stuffing but found mild butterbeans creating a needed contrast for the tart and crisp crust. Homemade fresh cheese works well, too.

Thank you.

An Ode To The Mother Earth

The mother’s day arrived and left a week ago. I missed the opportunity to post a tribute to my favourite mothers in time. The emblem of motherhood is personified in the mother who gives birth to us, the wife of a teacher, the wife of a holy person or a priest, queen, cow, nurse and earth. In a civilized society they are always respected and protected. Unfortunately we have reduced the list to barely include the person who parents us.

In Bhagavata Purana, spoken by the sages in the Naimisha forest thousands of years ago, there is a narration of the mother earth at the dawn of the current cycle of time, Kali-yuga. She describes how the pillars of human culture – austerity, purity, compassion and truthfulness – are being trampled by the increase of pride, lust, violence and falsehood.

We have conveniently distanced ourselves from and impersonalized the mother earth in order to pursue our desire to gain her abundance without responsibility. In any other relationship such cold-blooded abuse would be regretted. Nature is not dead matter. It is living energy. The consciousness of a plant or an animal may not be as developed as ours, but it doesn’t justify our tyranny. To have more tools means – to an intelligent person – to use them for a greater benefit. By mistreating the mother earth we don’t only cause pain but break the hand that feeds us. Despite of our financial prosperity and keen abilities of technology, we won’t be able to replicate her when she loses immunity to our drilling of oil, cutting down forests, polluting water resources, pumping the soil with chemicals and slaughtering animals. To lose a mother for greed and ignorance is embarrassing.

Any improvement begins with a change of consciousness. We can upgrade our situation, plans, skills and endeavours unlimitedly, but without the change of attitude or focus it won’t lead to a desired result. In order to regain respect and love for nature, we must understand who we are ourselves, what everything else is and what our relationships are. What is sustaining everything? A harmonic relationship with environment begins with willingness to reconsider our false supremacy over it.

The recipe of the sandwich cake is an ode to the mother earth. Thank you for showing me the trees are the hairs, the rivers are the veins and the air is the breath of the universal form. You dress by unwrapping the darkness of night into the mist of morning. You are an advocate of peacefulness, tolerance and humility. You manifest the qualities of higher intelligence behind the creation, maintenance and destruction. I am your servant.

Goat weed, wild chervil, nettle, dandelion and wood sorrel are among the favourite edible gifts of green from the wild garden and forest. They can be used as such in a salad, smoothie and pesto. Another way of serving them is like spinach.

Thank you.

Colourful & Good

Many bloggers come from the tradition of cooks, especially those from the old cultures. They take pride in showcasing family or regional recipes that have been simmered by generations of food enthusiasts. Every dish has a name and a story. In some places the recipes are still learnt by watching mothers and grandmothers cooking. Until the modern times it was uncommon for a daughter to be inefficient in the kitchen. Welcome to my world!

Our society has needs and demands that replace skills like cooking, hosting and housekeeping. In fact, they are looked down as hindrances for equality and progress. In our era – ruled by economical gain, technological prowess and the entertainment industry – prosperity and auspiciousness are evaluated by pertinent ideals. Dining on fast food and takeaways, or eating out in the restaurants, serve the means. When growing up, I didn’t have the will, time or necessity to learn cooking. The priorities were elsewhere.

Like many of my peers disenchanted by the skin-deep pursuits of life, I’ve also taken a detour from the upbringing of superficial values. As unfashionable as it is, I enjoy being a humble and simple housewife. It is a fulfilling responsibility and gives plenty of freedom for self-development, meaningful relationships and other privileges of life. It also places me in the kitchen a lot!

I won’t be able to share culinary gems with concealed historical anecdotes, handed down by the ancestors, but remain an innovative apprentice. One of the things I would like to improve is recipe-writing. I would appreciate your advice. Most of you are organized bloggers and some of you are professional bloggers. How do you measure and document the ingredients while cooking? It becomes tricky with a spontaneous cooking style executed without pre-drafted notes. I usually end up with a generic idea of ingredients and no idea of amounts!

I don’t think I’ve made the same recipe twice. A week ago I fried eggplant and okra julienne in the oven and served them in tomato gravy. It was brilliant! Against my habit, I duly noted the ingredients in order to replicate the dish. On the second run I had freshly made cheese at stock and rolled cheese balls to go with the sauce. It was good but not as excellent as previously. It made me doubtful about following a recipe to a tee. It seems that something is lost – perhaps the magic of fingertips, intuition or intimacy – when measuring cups and spoons are introduced. There is a subtle difference, similar to that of eating with fingers versus utensils.

Cheese balls are mild and soft in texture and taste. Crunchy cucumber salad with roasted peanuts and grated coconut create a nice contrast. It matches well with a paperthin puff-bread, poori.

Pooris are usually made of wholegrain wheat mixed with a dab of ghee. I use spelt flour instead. Sometimes I add rye flour, too. If possible, it makes them even more palatable! In Bengal refined wheat, maida, is used and the bread is called luchi.

Street vendors in India make pooris by hand, without the help of a rolling pin. They challenge the size of a football. The pastime of slapping, flipping and puffing pooris is fun entertainment. It is one of the endearing antics found only in India!

As the name indicates, bitter melon or gourd, karela, is bitter. It is a common vegetable in Asia, Africa and Caribbean. It stimulates the appetite and is often served as a side dish or a starter of a meal.

Small bitter melons are less grumpy and don’t require seeding before cooking. Once again, oven roasting works well with karela.

Serve everything with light and fluffy Basmati rice.

Thank you.

A Poor Man’s Feast

Khichdi, khichri, khichdee, khichadi, khichuri, khichari, khicri, khecheri and many similar names (that don’t sit well with a Western tongue) refer to a nutritionally balanced stew of rice and pulses, depending on the region it is prepared in. Despite of the linguistic acrobatics, the genius of Indian cuisine lies in the simple recipes. This poor man’s feast is combined with high quality grains, easily digestible lentils, fresh vegetables, exquisite spicing and homemade ghee. It is adequate, luscious and comforting.

As many as there are names, there are ways to cook “kitcheree”. The pulses, spices and vegetables may differ. Nuts and even raisins may be added. In Orissa, in the ancient temple of Sri Jagannath, it is daily served as rich as it gets with almonds, coconut, currants and sweet spices like cinnamon and cloves.

My basic recipe stems from our acarya, Srila Prabhupada, who introduced it to his disciples as a staple pillar of vegetarian diet. In various forms I’ve cooked or eaten it every day, either for breakfast or lunch, for over 20 years and never gotten bored. Ayurveda, the Indian wisdom of medicine, recommends it for all body types as a cleansing regimen. It is perfect yoga food in sattva-guna, the mode of goodness.

To compliment “kitcheree” you may serve some roti (unleavened bread), plain yogurt, raita or chutni. I like to contrast it with roasted or (on finer occasions) fried vegetables. This time I served it with wholegrain chapati, roasted Brussels sprouts and coconut & mint chutni. Delicious!

Thanks.