Bean there eaten that...

In 2012, when we eliminated gluten from our home- we were also left pondering on what food we could eat, given that rice and wheat formed a substantial part of what we ate. Out of necessity, we began experimenting with various grains, many of which we never had even heard of. Subsequently, we also felt that we should try and grow our own food- Organically.

On our rocky piece of plot, with a couple of inches of soil and lots of books on how to grow food, we began our journey of growing our food. Durig this journey one such seed we sowed was this ‘broad bean’, and when in six months, it did not yield any legumes we had all but three creepers removed.

Two years later, the three remaining creepers finally flowered and have given a bounty of ‘broad beans’. The creeper is doing extremely well and in its long life has never been infested with any pest or disease. Not just that, we have been negligent in maintaining our plot- for months we have not watered it or mulched it and many of our crops and plants died during these periods of neglect. However, many did survive and one such survivor was this ‘broad Bean’. The plant grows in perhaps less than a few inches of soil in our plot and is thriving. It has seen sporadic periods of care and neglect and we find it hard to believe that it is so full of flowers. The reason why we put this post is, it conveys a powerful message.

As we connect to farmers around the country we see a growing number of them cultivating exotic crops that are not endemic to our climate- the major reason being, people are willing to pay a higher price to these products. In turn, we are increasingly consuming pesticide-laced vegetables, facing an acute water crisis and rising food cost- one major reason being we have forgotten the local variety of good food. Their resistance to pest and vagaries of climate, all built over years of evolution is something that is getting lost on us as we are relying more and more on chemicals to do what nature has provided us on a platter.

 At House of Grains, we try our best to use such ethnic ingredients that are local, if not to the Konkan coast, at least to India. We hope, as days go by we can also make these items available to all those who visit us and hopefully restart an interest in local healthy food- they drop out of our memory.

Why do we need two days to make our gluten-free breads?

We always tell our clients, that we need at least two days’ notice to bake our breads. Why do we insist on this time period? It’s simple as this- that is how long it takes to bake our breads! Yes, it’s as slow as that- and today, we will explain our snail pace baking process.
All our breads are made of multiple grains or pulses- The first thing we do when we have to bake our bread is soak them. The grains or pulses, when harvested are dried and go into a dormant state and so do the bacteria and yeast that are naturally found in these grains. We soak these grains for at least 24 hours and by soaking we restart the cycle of life- the dormant seeds and microbes come alive again. We would ideally like to soak it longer than 24 hours and if we have a longer time schedule we indeed do it.
Next, these grains or pulses are strained, milled and begin the process of fermentation. Every grain has its own time period for fermenting- pulses are quick off the block, while millets and buckwheat take their own sweet time. The yeast we add and those present naturally, start breaking down the starch, releasing carbon-di-oxide and produce alcohol. The naturally present bacteria meanwhile breakdown the starch and produce aldehydes, ketones and organic acids albeit in a much smaller quantity.
The breads are then baked for nearly 2 hours at a lower temperature of about 140c - (most bakers bake their breads in 20 to 60 minutes at a high temperature)-the lower temperature degrades the least number of essential nutrients and prevents the natural fats and oil forming carcinogenic by-products (more about this in a later post). The breads then gently cool and are sliced- 48 hours after we started the process. Truly susegad style !
We could have made our breads much faster- but then we would not have been true to our philosophy of providing genuinely wholesome food.

P.S. The pizza base in the photograph, was made from green gram sprouts- the base takes 4 days to make.

Surprising Number of Conditions Linked to Celiac Disease.

We usually associate, only the celiac disease with wheat. In our earlier posts, we have mentioned various studies which show celiac disease to be associated with many other conditions.

Recently, at the World Congress of Gastroenterology 2017, Dr. Daniel Karb, stated, that he and his colleagues searched the Explorys database of electronic health record, an aggregate of about 35 million people and, found a significant association between celiac disease and 13 other autoimmune disorders, such as type 1 diabetes, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. "Every autoimmune disease we looked at is associated with celiac disease, other than primary biliary cholangitis." Dr Karb reported.

From the image above, you will notice that the rate of celiac disease is almost 5 times higher in those suffering from migraine than in those without and, it is 20 times higher in those with Autism. So what does it indicate? We could certainly conclude - the unknown is more than the known and, a lot of further research is needed in order to identify why such a skewed co-relation exists between wheat and auto-immune diseases.

So, what does it mean for all of us? Does it mean if you have a migraine, you need to go off wheat? Well, most of us work towards identifying the root cause of any ailment that we or our loved one may be ailing from. If during this phase, you haven’t given thought to consuming foods which are free from gluten then perhaps, trying a gluten free diet for three to six months at the least will not be such a bad idea after all.

Original article at https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/889005 

Grain Vs Human alter Ego.

Ever since we started writing this blog, we have shared many of our successes and all our stories had a happy ending. As we all know, life is not a bed of roses and success rarely comes without failure. So today’s post is about one such baking failure that we had today.

A few days ago, we posted an all pulse bread that we baked and we had made a lovely sandwich out of it. Before introducing it in our menu, we had to try making it again, and again and yes, yet again.  This was one of our repeated attempts and, it definitely hit an iceberg.

It’s not just with this bread, but with nearly every other product that we make- they are extremely demanding and very unforgiving on the baker. Aarina goes to great lengths to maintain the precision with measurements. Perhaps her training, on measuring with burettes and pipettes helps, but despite great precautions, incidents like these happen regularly. Sometimes, it’s more about the consistency than the measurement, given that, different batches of grains behave differently. Worse still, disaster strikes during our orders, however, we are very fortunate to have clients who have been very understanding and forgiving when it was their orders at stake.

We are constantly working on making our products more resilient to such baking idiosyncrasies, and our experiments, are forever on. But the one thing we choose not do- is to use binders, gums or any such additives. More often than not, our products may not seem presentable to the eye - but they will always be wholesome and nutritious.

Working with grains in such a fashion is indeed a tremendously humbling experience! Every kind of grain is different in its own way, making one grain mimic another grains property is an emotional experience. Oftentimes, Aarina breaks down crying during her experiments, “Don’t most of us live our lives doing just this - mimicking, cloning and being something that we are not!”

Dal and Rice bread

Dal (Lentils) and Rice are generally associated with an everyday meal, however, we decided to use the same Dal and Rice and make it into a bread. Our gluten-free bread today was made from Goa rice (boiled rice) and Moong dal ( green gram lentil), and it makes a light flavoured bread, perfect for lightly flavoured sandwiches.

Our Sandwich filling was Beetroot, tomatoes, carrots and a spicy green chutney.

There comes a time when you realise that one can do bread with almost anything, and when that dawns on you wheat bread sounds so boring!

Goa’s Traditional Cake- Baath.

Across bakeries and homes in Goa, especially, during the Christmas season, it is a tradition to bake Baath or Batica. Baath is a traditional Goan cake, and unlike other cakes- Baath is different, for it uses Semolina and not flour. It has coconut in it and is allowed to sit overnight prior to baking.

So where did Goa get it’s Baath from? We are not entirely sure, however, the closest cake to Baath is the ‘Basbousa’, from the Middle East. Basbousa makes use of Semolina, has coconut and is very similar in preparation to Baath. In Egypt, it is specially made during the Christmas season. Food historians believe that Basbousa originated in Somalia, and considering Goa had historic maritime links with Somalia (even before the arrival of the Portuguese) it is possible that the ‘Basbousa’ from Somalia arrived in Goa, and somewhere during its historic journey- Basbousa became Batica, further shortened, to Baath.

It is interesting to note that the original Basbousa, unlike the one baked today, was made not from wheat Semolina, but from Sorghum! Yes, it was gluten free and like many other traditional recipes, the convenience of wheat made cooks adapt wheat to replace the traditional grains!

We have adapted this recipe and our Baath is made from Sorghum, rice and Yellow pea semolina- so now, wheat should not be a reason why you can’t eat Baath! Our Gluten-free Baath does not contain Vanilla essence, we use the vanilla bean and, just like all our other products, we do not use baking powder.

The House Of Grains Deli .

This blog has been silent for some months now- however behind the veil of silence, we have been working hard over our recipes and there is some good news that we would like to share with you! Great news for all those in Goa, who either want to enjoy wholesome eating options or need to eat nutritious, gluten-free food.

On 18th December, “House of Grains” will open a little, ethical “Deli” which will focus on using Gluten-free, ethnic, and mostly organic ingredients, to make and serve not just nutritious but conscious speciality food. 

We wish for our deli to be a homely space, reflecting not only the ethos of “home-cooked meals are made with love and are nutritious”, not to forget, our food is certainly just that, but also, the kind of persons that we are, homely and casual. Also, given that, garbage is such a massive issue, we are consciously working towards eliminating plastics, composting all our kitchen waste and thereby, eyeing to become a “zero waste deli”.

We are using recycled cane furniture, eco-friendly fans (power consumption 32 Watts as opposed to 65 plus watts in the regular fans) and LED lights. Our curtains are made from cotton Khadi while the cushion covers are made from cotton fabric, printed using vegetable dyes.

Although, we would have preferred using regular plates and bowls, water shortage in the area has forced us to consider disposable options. The plates and bowls we use are made from Bagasse (Sugarcane waste), which will then be composted in our garden.
At a later date, we plan on offering gluten-free, organic groceries and wish to keep all of it packaging free. We would love our patrons to bring in their own boxes/ bags to help each of us become garbage free.

Come 18th December, we look forward to chatting with you over a cup of freshly ground coffee. Having said that, we would like you to know that we have already begun taking orders for our breads and cakes.

P.S. Kindly find the menu on the menu page.