Quinoa Bread

Dsc_0404_1 One of my favourite clients, J told me in one of our morning sessions he just had breakfast of quinoa cooked with soymilk. I look forward every week to teach J because we talk about religion, politics, classical music, art and life (by the way, J’s an international award-winning architect). Maybe being almost twice as old as I am, I feel like he has more than twice as much knowledge that I have now.

J makes a fuss if I start neglecting the piano. He believes that music keeps us connected to our inner voice. And listening to that inner voice is crucial to maintaining a zesty outlook of life overall. It keeps us in touch with ourselves, grounded.

Quinoa, as J said, “resembles blood cells” and is a crop grown by the Incas since the time of Machu Picchu civilization. It is one crop with the highest protein content of 13% and is gluten free. I allowed my curiousity to take over and came home with a pack of organic quinoa.

Using a medieval grinder which is usually utilised just for grinding coffee beans, I grinded some quinoa into flour. Smell wise, quinoa is not entirely pleasant. It has a bitter tinge to it which is supposedly due to saponin coating. Though the processing would have removed the coating, the bitterness doesn’t go away completely.

Quinoa Bread

120g quinoa flour
280g unbleached stone-ground wheat flour
2 tbsp maple syrup/raw honey
a pinch of salt
28g active dry yeast
240ml water
a handful of flaxseeds & rolled oats

Knead dough in a stand mixer or food processor for 10-15 minutes. Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl covered with clingwrap till it doubles in size. Punch down the risen dough and knead with your hands for another few minutes. Communicate and send your love into the doug while kneading. Shape the dough into a loaf tin and let it prove for another 45 mins to 1 hour. Let it bake for 25 minutes in a preheated oven of 180C.

The bitterness from the quinoa flour doesn’t permeate through the baked loaf. The texture and taste differs from a normal wheat loaf. I’m now on a search for my next quinoa recipe!