Gluten Free Breakfast.

Pooris, Samosa's and Kachori's are typical Indian breakfast or snack items made of wheat. We had a more wholesome take on these snacks for today's breakfast.

We managed to no only make them gluten free- but also organic and used 100% whole grain flour. The flour was a mixture of Sorghum and Amaranth, freshly milled at home. The Samosa's had an elaborate stuffing though- Chia seeds, flax seed, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, moringa and tamarind leaves, dates, raisins, figs and apricots all seasoned with curry leaves and peri-peri chillies.

The Kachori's were stuffed with spiced and seasoned peanut powder- all grown at home and made at home.

Breakfast was accompanied by date and tamarind- sweet and tangy chutney.

Meanwhile a small note on why we use amaranth in many of our recipes:  Amaranth is a versatile plant since it adapts itself to a large number of environments, grows with vigor, produces large amounts of biomass, and resists drought, heat, and pests. It's an environmentally conscious consumers dream crop.
When it comes to nutrition, Amaranth is very rich in essential amino acids and is particularly high in those amino acids which are deficient in other cereals (like wheat, rice, millets, and oats). Hence when amaranth is added to any other flour it enhances the nutritional profile of the mixture. Two such essential amino acids (which cannot be produced by the body) are Lysine and Tryptophan.
Other than building proteins, lysine is essential for the production of a compound called carnitine. Almost every cell in our body depends on carnitine to transport fats into the cells. Lysine also helps our body absorb calcium and make collagen.

Our bodies convert Tryptophan into serotonin, a mood-regulating neurotransmitter.
According to a study published in the July 2006 issue of the “Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience.” a deficiency in tryptophan and the subsequent lack of serotonin is also associated with general irritability and depression. Tryptophan can also affect your sleep cycle because we use serotonin to synthesize the hormone melatonin. When we produce high levels of melatonin at night, it can help us relax and sleep. Other than these two hormones our bodies can also convert tryptophan into the B vitamin niacin.

In tests carried out in rats, Amaranth has the ability to reduce triglycerides and LDL and increase HDL levels (1).

So isn't Amaranth cool grain to have in our diets- do you have it?

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01088483