Buckwheat or Greek wheat is one of the most popular types of whole grains that has been consumed by mankind since ancient times. Krupa got this name from the Slavs back in the 7th century, when it was brought from Byzantium. The content of a huge amount of useful substances that a person needs at any age allows calling buckwheat “the queen of cereals” and introducing people who need diet food into the diet.
There are many recipes for making buckwheat. It can be boiled on water, broth or milk. Although they differ from each other, they share a common feature - cereal, delicious in any form. In the article I will consider some of the nuances of cooking buckwheat in plain water at home.
How to cook loose buckwheat in water
- buckwheat 200 g
- water 3 l
- Thoroughly rinse the groats in a colander until the water becomes clear.
- Pure buckwheat is poured into a container and filled with warm water. In order for the cereal to swell and become softer, it is kept in water for 20-40 minutes.
- After preparation, you can start cooking. For this, the cereal is poured into the selected container. Water, salt and bay leaves are added next.
- The water is brought to a boil and the fire is minimized. The container is closed by a lid. On such a fire porridge is cooked until fully cooked - 15-25 minutes. Periodically check the condition during cooking. If the container is not protected from burning, stir porridge periodically. Willingness is determined by the amount of water. If the water is completely absorbed, then the porridge is ready.
- The hob is turned off, butter is added to the pan and everything is mixed. The lid closes again and the porridge is left to evaporate. If the dish was cooked in a casserole so that the contents “get tired”, it can be placed in a heated oven.
Buckwheat porridge
Buckwheat is usually used as a side dish for meat dishes. It is cooked in much the same way as friable, except that milk is added to it, and the cooking process is no different.
When the porridge is boiled for 20-30 minutes, milk is poured into it, and prepared for 15 minutes. After that, butter and sugar are added to taste.
How to cook buckwheat in water in the microwave
Prepared cereal is poured into a microwave-friendly container. The bowl should be covered. Then boiling water is poured into a container with grits and salt is added, closed with a lid and placed in the microwave.
Maximum power is set and maintained until boiling water. Boiling time can be calculated depending on the power. If the microwave oven is 1000 watts, the boiling time is 3.5 minutes, if 750 watts - 7-8 minutes.
After boiling water, the oven turns off. The lid is removed from the tank. Further cooking occurs without it. Power is set at 600 watts.
With this power porridge is cooked for 8 minutes. After that, the microwave is turned off, and the container with the finished porridge is removed.
Tasty and healthy buckwheat in a slow cooker
The process of making buckwheat in a slow cooker is simple. To do this, stick to the following order:
- Buckwheat is moved and washed.
- To make it friable, bake it for 5 minutes in a frying pan or in a dry bowl in the “frying” mode.
- Groats are poured with cold water. For each glass of buckwheat - 2.5 glasses of water. Content is salted.
- Buckwheat mode is set. If this mode is not available, you can choose "milk porridge" or "rice."
- Cook with the lid closed. Cooking time is usually 10 minutes.
The benefits and harms of buckwheat
What is this unique product and what is the use of it? It is possible to enumerate the advantages of buckwheat for a long time, so I will indicate the main ones.
- Lowers cholesterol, removes toxins from the body.
- Promotes proper bowel function.
- Not only seeds are considered useful, but also leaves and flowers, which in folk medicine are used to cure diseases such as measles, scarlet fever and acute radiation sickness.
- Buckwheat leaves and flowers are rich in vitamin “P”, which helps to treat the upper respiratory tract and strengthens blood vessels.
- Good helps with heartburn.
- Powdered raw buckwheat groats eliminates purulent formations, eels and boils.
- Contributes to the stabilization of blood circulation, therefore it is included in the diet by cardiovascular patients.
- Buckwheat seeds can restore a calm and sound sleep. If they fill the pillow, then the person sleeping on it can get rid of insomnia.
Advantages of buckwheat can be listed further, however, I note its negative properties.
It is not recommended to include in the diet of people with gastrointestinal diseases (gastritis, ulcers). You should also not use it while breastfeeding. This can cause allergies in the baby.
Preparation for cooking
To cook a decent and tasty porridge, you must first prepare for the process. The first thing is to choose a good grits, which is divided into two types:
- Unground buckwheat - cereal, which has a solid solid grain without a shell. This type is divided into three varieties. The first grade contains very few impurities and unprocessed grains. In the second grade from 5 to 7% of impurities. The third grade is a lower-quality cereal containing up to 10% of various weed impurities.
- Chop (Passed, Smolensk groats) - consists of chopped buckwheat grains. It can be small and large.
When choosing buckwheat, pay attention to its processing. Raw cereals have a greenish brown color. For long-term storage, it is subjected to heat treatment and acquires a brown color. Hue can be light or dark. The lighter the core, the less processed it is. For crumbly porridge, dark cereal is chosen, it will not fall apart.
Buckwheat can also be used to make porridge. She did not lose her taste. This cereal is quickly boiled and used to make porridge for children.
After choosing a variety of cereals, prepare it for cooking. To do this, pour the required amount onto the table for sorting. We select only whole grains, separate the rest from the garbage and set aside, we throw out the garbage.
The correct proportions of water and buckwheat
To get a quality porridge, it is advisable to withstand the following proportions of water and cereals.
You can add salt and vegetable oil. For example, to cook 2 cups of buckwheat, take 4 cups of water, half a teaspoon of salt and about one and a half tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Which dishes are best cooked
To make the porridge tasty, it is necessary to “tire” it, that is, keep it warm after cooking. This can only be done in dishes that keep the temperature. For example, in a thick-walled stainless steel pan. In such cookware, the bottom is a multilayer structure, which allows you to warm up the entire body, and retain heat even after turning off the fire. You can use cast aluminum cookware or a cast iron cauldron.
How much to cook
Cooking from the beginning of the boil to turning off the stove can range from 25 to 35 minutes. If you take into account the time of the whole process from preparation to how well the buckwheat is "evaporated", it may take up to 60 minutes. Time also depends on the agility of the hostess.
Buckwheat calories
Buckwheat is unique, it contains a large number of useful substances, but its uniqueness lies in the fact that it refers to products with low calorie content.
If you cook the kernel, the calorie content will drop to 135 kilocalories. This is what gives dietary qualities to dishes. It is recommended to include in the diet of athletes, patients, children and the elderly. Low calorie content does not allow loading the body with useless substances.
Useful Tips
To make a good and tasty porridge, take into account some tips.
- Do not be lazy, carefully sort through the cereal, as it may contain debris.
- It is not recommended to mix during cooking, as the natural ripening process is disrupted.
- Choose a container that can retain heat for a long time. And in size, it should be such that after the buckwheat swells, it does not spill over the edge. When cooking, the volume of the original cereal is doubled.
- Do not forget that during cooking, foam forms which must be removed.
- Salt cold water without buckwheat, and after boiling, already pour the cereal.
Remember that buckwheat is a valuable cereal that is useful to everyone without exception. But before including the product in the diet, it is better to consult a doctor. Eating whole grains can be harmful to people with certain diseases. But for healthy people, buckwheat porridge does not harm with any cooking technology. There are a lot of recipes. And each of them has the right to life.
