Ingredients: Kamut

A bowl of Kamut – just like the one they buried with king Tut!

One of the things that I like about blogging is that sometimes, not often enough for Karl, our posts begin an external conversation. I was lucky enough to catch one such dialog between Tony,  a former cooking buddy of mine who has left for the loftier shores of Boston – and his friends, after my post on Basmati rice. The interchange took place on Facebook and they were swapping their favorite types of rice. Please understand that it does this 54-year-old goat’s heart proud to listen to men discussing ingredients and recipes. I am even happier when they turn me on to new ingredients that expand my healthful repertoire.

Enter Kamut (we will save farro for another time.) Kamut is a brand name for Khorasan Wheat. Khorasan refers to an historical region in modern-day Iran and there are those who believe that it originated in Egypt. What we know for sure is that it has been around a while and is not the most popular of foods.

Back in the day, when I could eat anything and my body would simply respond  “Thank you, sir, may I have another”, I made fun of vegetarians. My big complaint was that it took two hours to make anything in their cupboards’ edible. Then I learned more about the effect that food – especially processed foods – have on our bodies and began to pay attention. Kamut will take a long time on your stove top: only 30 minutes in a pressure cooker, but it is worth it. If you have sworn off simple carbs (and I tend to avoid them) it will not satisfy your cravings for a big-ole-helping of rice. However, if you are trying to get out of the potatoes, pasta, rice, bread syndrome, it is a useful addition to your arsenal, along with the fore mentioned farro and the increasingly more popular quinoa. More on those rascals another time

When cooked, Kamut plumps and swells. It is wonderfully nutty in flavor and the fact that you are consuming the whole grain means that it is packed with vitamins and fiber. This is swiped straight from the Kamut wiki page.

Nutrients

In 100 grams, Khorasan wheat provides 337 calories and is a rich source (more than 19% of the Daily Value, DV) of numerousessential nutrients, including protein (29% DV), dietary fiber (46% DV), several B vitamins and dietary minerals, especially manganese(136% DV) (table). Khorasan wheat is 11% water, 70% carbohydrates, 2% fat and 15% protein (table).

So the carbs are more than compensated by the fiber, making the glycemic load on your body very low and the vitamins/minerals/nutrition extremely valuable.

Add Turmeric (the health benefits of which are in my post HERE), cloves, cinnamon and salt to your cooking water and make it into a wonderful, aromatic Indian dish. Saute onions and add beef stock in place of water and you have a hearty side dish. Make a dressing of mirin, seseme and rice-wine vinegar and you have a perfect base for a cold Asian salad.

Play with it – you might actually like it.