Whole grain spelt waffles (eggless)

Is it possible to make waffles out of freshly ground spelt flour? 100% spelt, not even sifted or mixed with a lighter flour, just straight up spelt?

If you have ever wondered this, then you have come to the right place. I just plunged right in and made waffles with spelt flour I milled at home. The recipe is quite simple and you can use it for waffles or pancakes!

Spelt waffle topped with pear, banana and walnut

Millet-wheat waffles or pancakes

Are you torn between buying one more appliance for the kitchen, and one more box of store-bought waffles?

If you need one more reason to start making fresh home-made waffles, here you go:  millet waffles!

Millet-wheat waffle topped with blueberries.

Millet-wheat waffles, that is.  These are easy to make and use equal parts of millet and whole wheat flour.  This recipe uses mashed ripe banana in the batter.  If you don’t have a ripe banana on hand, you may use 1 TBS honey or molasses in its place.  This will provide a mildly sweet tone to the background without overwhelming the hearty flavor of the waffle.

(Alternatively, you may use the same batter for millet pancakes.)

In the waffles pictured above I used sprouted millet flour which I got from a company called To Your Health in Alabama.

Chocolate-Date Muffins

Made with whole wheat, sprouted ragi and dates, these chocolate muffins are wholesome enough to have for breakfast!  Or any time of day – not to mention they are so easy to pack for travel.  Stun your friends at the next potluck.  When we saw Chef Disha proudly display her creation, we asked her Amma to share the recipe.

Basic Vegan Chocolate Muffins (recipe adapted from Veganosaurus)

Disha shows us how it’s done.

Quinoa Upma

Quinoa Upma
This Recipe comes to us from Meenal Amma in Rockville

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 green chilies, finely chopped
dash of jira (cumin seed)
handful of peanuts
salt to taste
juice of 1 lemon
handful of kothimira (cilantro), chopped

Steps:
Bring Quinoa to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes – it should split up during the boil so you know its done.  You can also cook this in a pressure cooker or the EZ Cooker.
In minimal oil, saute onions, jira and peanuts till peanuts are brown but not burnt.

Add green chillies.  Saute lightly if desired.
Add boiled quinoa and salt.  Mix it up, squeeze in some lemon juice and top with kothmira.

Eat well 😉

Amma suggests:  Try walnuts in place of peanuts. 

 

Oatmeal Sabzi

Oatmeal Sabzi

Till I tasted this I had always had my oatmeal with bananas or other fruit and nuts.  The vegetables really do bring out a different side of the oats.  We usually use carrots, peas, and beans, but am curious how it would do with eggplant or okra.  Here is the recipe as told to me by  Somnath Baba in Boston:

Savoury Oatmeal with carrots and peas.
 Photo:  Balaji Narasimhan.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup assorted diced vegetables
1 cup rolled oats
3 cups water
pinch of salt
dash of mustard oil (optional)

Steps:

Bring water, salt and vegetables to a boil.
Add oats and simmer for about 20 minutes or till vegetables are cooked.
Drizzle with mustard oil for added zing!

Amma adds: EZ Cooker is wonderful for cooking oatmeal – never burns, never boils over!