How to prepare your own cereals / legumes in the traditional way!

DIY = limit the acidity of seeds / cereals / legumes in three steps

This article is a guide from www.sanneleenman.com on how to get rid of anti-nutrients and the presence of gluten in your grains. To do what ? Read this article (in English)

Legumes, seeds and grains still have a bad reputation. This is because the latter are naturally highly saturated with phytic acid, an antinutrient that decreases and thus limits the absorption of other nutrients.

Fortunately, culinary preparations allow you to remedy this nutritional loss: soaking, germination and fermentation (sometimes the combination of the three) are all ways to substantially reduce phytic acid saturation and make your food healthier and more nutritious, even for people with food intolerances.

SOAKING

Soaked rice

1. Pour the rice into a large (non-metallic) bowl
2. Fill the bowl completely with lukewarm filtered water, until all the rice is submerged in the water.
3. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel (you can use a rubber band to keep it in place) and let sit in your kitchen for 12 hours.
4. Rinse vigorously, until the cloudy water becomes clear.

Note: Soaked rice cooks faster than hard rice. It also requires less water for cooking.

Soaked pulses

1. Place the legumes in a large (non-metallic) bowl
2. Fill the bowl completely with hot, filtered water until the beans are immersed in the water.
3. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and let stand in your kitchen for 12-24 hours.
4. Change the water in the bowl once or twice during soaking. Rinse the legumes several times to avoid fermentation.
5. After 12-24 hours, rinse the legumes one last time before cooking them.

Tip: On the web many Internet users recommend an acid mediator with active cultures, such as yogurt, buttermilk (buttermilk), whey, milk kefir, or even coconut milk kefir which further reduce higher the level of phytic acid.

Acid mediators are not necessary with rice because rice already has a high level of phytase, the enzyme that helps break down phytic acid. However, with soaked nuts or legumes an acid mediator is highly recommended.

The advantages of soaking:

• It's very simple, all you need is a large bowl, a clean tea towel and water.
• This is the easiest method to reduce the acid content of legumes and rice.

The disadvantages of soaking:

• Soaking is not recommended for grains low in phytase, such as oatmeal. In order to reduce phytic acid, fermentation is recommended.
• Soaking does not completely reduce the presence of phytic acid in legumes; in order to reduce it further, it will be necessary to go through a germination.

GERMINATION

1. Soak the seeds / legumes in water for at least 12 hours (as described above) to aid the germination process and reduce phytic acid.
2. Rinse the seeds / legumes well until the water runs clear.
3. Use an airtight glass jar for germination.
4. Please rinse the legumes and seeds with clear filtered water, repeat the gesture several times (at least twice) in order to produce germination. Rinse and drain the cloudy water slowly, as if you were watering a plant to make it grow.
5. Germination time varies depending on the legumes, beans and seeds. After a few days (depending on which seed you choose) you will notice a young shoot emerging from the seed, indicating that it is developing and germinating.
6. Leave the seeds in the fridge, they can be eaten during the 3-4 days following preparation. You will appreciate them raw, lightly cooked, or straight in a sauce in a good chili as you are used to doing!

Tip: Make sure that your hands and the jars you will be using, as well as your kitchen in general, remain clean throughout the preparation to avoid any bacterial infection.

The advantages of germination:

• The process is super simple: you only need water, a bowl or a glass jar.

The disadvantages of germination:

• Preparation can be time consuming, you need to rinse the seeds or legumes every day to keep them fresh and growing.

FERMENTATION

Day 1: Preparation

• 5 grams of rye flour
• 105 ml of filtered water

(You are free to use half of the amounts recommended here, if this is your first preparation and you are not sure you are using all of them).

1. Mix the flour with water in a non-metallic container until you get a smooth dough. Your preparation should have the texture of thick pancake batter. If it is too runny, simply add more flour; if it is too thick, water. Cover the container loosely with a clean tea towel or paper towel.
2. Let stand at constant room temperature of 20 ° to 23 ° C for 24 hours.

Day 2: Feed the preparation

• 5 grams of rye flour
• 105 ml of filtered water

Bubbles may have already formed in the preparation, which is a sign of fermentation. Don't worry if you don't notice anything in particular, it may take longer depending on the room temperature and other factors.

1. Add the flour and water to the dough, mix well until it clumps together. Cover again. The texture is always that of a thick pancake batter.
2. Let stand (in the same place).

Day 3: once again feed the preparation

• 5 grams of rye flour
• 105 ml of filtered water

Bubbles should form and increase the volume of your mixture. This should start to smell more sour.

1. Again, add water and flour. Mix well.
2. Let rest.

Day 4, 5, 6, 7: Continue to feed the preparation

By now your bubbly mixture should have doubled in size. You can now use it to make sourdough bread. s

Save for later

If you ever want to bake more bread, keep some mixture in reserve and continue to feed it daily, as described above. You can leave it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process.

The benefits of fermentation:

• The process is done almost by itself.
• It works effectively to reduce the phytic acid found in wheat and oatmeal.
• Homemade sourdough bread is simply delicious.

The disadvantages of fermentation

• The fermentation process is long and requires daily attention.

Photo credits: The Kitchenn