For rajgira flour• To make the rajgira flour, heat the amaranth seeds in a broad non-stick pan and dry roast on a medium flame for 5 to 7 minutes, while stirring occasionally. It contains roughly 20% your daily value of protein, dietary fiber, folate, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, and a number of dietary minerals. It will probably remain a specialty market rather than a mass market for quite some time,” Octavio Paredes-Lopez said in Amaranth Biology, Chemistry, and Technology. Amaranth gets its name from the Greek word for “immortal” or “everlasting” which is a reference to the seed’s virtual indestructibility.

Now that you have a better idea what amaranth flour is and how to cook with it, you may be eager to try it for yourself. Like many gluten free flours, amaranth flour works well as part of a blend, especially in bread dough. While the cooked grain tends to be rather sticky and heavy, the flour has a lighter touch in baked goods. Furthermore, amaranth grain reduced “bad” LDL cholesterol while increasing “good” HDL cholesterol ( 15).Even by adding only a small amount of amaranth flour to your regular dough or batter, you will benefit enormously from the additional nutrients. This time honored technique maintains cool temperatures, which preserves the natural flavor and healthy nutrition of the grains. While the seeds can be used fresh, dried, popped and flaked, flour is the most popular form perhaps because of the sheer convenience of using it. I used the amaranth flour to make pistachio and cardamom cookies topped with vegan chocolate and crushed pistachios and they were to die for!

Often referred to as grain amaranth to distinguish it from vegetable amaranth (a closely related plant) it’s a tiny round seed, about half the size of a millet seed. Some of these items were made and eaten by the Aztecs and other cultures as part of their religious observances. In yeasted breads, substitute up to 25 percent of the wheat flour with amaranth flour; in quick breads, muffins, flatbreads, pancakes, and pastries, substitute up to half a wheat flour (like whole-wheat pastry or spelt) with amaranth flour. Antioxidant activity and phenolic composition of amaranth ( Amaranthus caudatus) during plant growth.

Add extra leavening agents when using amaranth flour as the sole flour in a recipe because it absorbs a lot of liquid and may make your recipe too dense. Though animal studies show amaranth may lower total cholesterol, the few clinical studies involving humans have not provided conclusive results or convincing enough data to make health claims. Like other cereal grains and pseudocereals, amaranth can be prepared in its whole seed form or ground into flour.

The amaranth plant was an important crop for the Aztecs and other indigenous peoples, who used it for food and medicine. Once you get a feel for this nutritious gluten free flour, you can start trying it as an alternative to wheat flour in your favorite recipes. Compared to other grains, amaranth and quinoa have short cooking times, although it does take slightly longer for amaranth to reach the desired doneness. It is a gluten-free cereal, more similar to a pseudocereal and rich in nutrients such as proteins, fibre, iron, calcium and magnesium.

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