Buckwheat and Amaranth Seed Granola

Buckwheat, kutu or kuti as we call it, was one of my favorite food as a child. This was a specialty and a pricey grain used by my mom only during fasts and we used to practice fasts to be able to enjoy dhoklas/steamed savory cakes and khichdi/savory porridge. Yummy! My sister and I would scrape the entire pan full of the delicious khichdi! Remember Deepu?

I do not know how, but I always knew kutu was called buckwheat in English :) Thanks to Google, read more and found the benefits of this grain. Now that I have been posting recipes with buckwheat and amaranth seed since quite some time, I am sure you too would have looked up for the benefits of these gluten free grains in our life. If not, here are few links for you:
Buckwheat
10 Reasons To Use Amaranth in Your Gluten-Free Recipes
Groats

While I was in India, the only buckwheat I was aware of was coarsely broken one. When we moved to California I found buckwheat flour at an Indian grocery store and the best moment was when I found whole buckwheat groats at Whole Foods Market. Never knew a whole buckwheat grain looked like a heart shaped seed! As usual just got a bag full to experiment with it. I had soaked the seeds overnight in water, ground with some yogurt and water to form a batter like consistency, added some salt  and made thin crepes or dosa like crisp crepes. Believe me, they were amazing!

Thanks to Google again, I found out that buckwheat can be sprouted. A scientist and a cook in me got more curious. And this is how I started experimenting and sprouted it.

Here is the whole, raw buckwheat grain.

Soaked a cup of buckwheat in 2 cups water for an hour.

Buckwheat when soaked produces this slimy solution so needs to be rinsed often.

This was my buckwheat sprouting arrangement. A sieve in a large covered pot.

I drained the water, washed the slimy layer well. covered with wet paper towel and allowed it to sprout.

After 24 hours, this is what I saw. Little tails/sprouts growing. Rinsed them twice a day.

After 48 hours.

 Super tender and nutty flavored sprouts ready to use.

I had planned to toss some veggies and make some date and walnut dressing for buckwheat salad.

Instead, while people around me and my Facebook friends are practicing Navratri fasts in a healthy way, I thought of trying out some granola.

 My first attempt: Mixed a cup of buckwheat sprouts, walnuts, almonds, dried figs, raisins, 3 tbsp. honey.

 In India, we often ate Rajgira chikki or crisp made of jaggery or sugar with amaranth seeds.

So, I also added 1/2 cup Rajgira or Amaranth seeds to make granola.

Mixed ingredients well spread them on a baking sheet. Baked at 250 F preheated oven. 

The amount of toasting time that nuts needed was less than the amount of time needed by sprouts. So eventually the nuts were slightly more toasted.

It did taste crisp and delicious, but I felt it was over cooked.

My second attempt: This time planned to roast sprouts and nuts separately.

Mixed 1 cup of Buckwheat sprouts and 1/2 cup Amaranth seeds with 3 tbsp. of honey. Spread on a baking sheet and baked in 250 F oven for 1 1/2 hour till it got beautifully crisp.

Meanwhile, sliced almonds and cracked walnuts. Mixed honey to make some honey roasted nuts.

Spread on a baking sheet and baked for 10 minutes in a 350 F oven.

Buckwheat Sprout and Amaranth Seed Granola ready!

Crisp and Delicious.

Added honey roasted almonds and walnuts.

Handful of raisins.

Handful of dried cranberries.

Delicious, nutritious Granola ready! 

Nutritious sprouts, toasted seeds, honey roasted nuts, smooth and sweet raisins, anti oxidants packed cranberries! Amazing combination! You should try this.

Buckwheat and Amaranth seeds are available easily. Add in flavors or your choice: toasted sesame seeds, cashews, dates, dried figs or anything and make your own healthy granola for fasts.

 Enjoyed this delicious granola with plain low-fat yogurt, home made strawberry syrup, fresh strawberry fruit.

Healthy, Homemade, Granola!