Sprouting, Souring, and Soaking… There are so many things to think about when dealing with seeds and legumes. I’ve recently learned about soaking grains. And since then, we’ve been on the grain soaking bandwagon (except for A’s bread, which he refuses to adjust because it’s his masterpiece). While I could go into more discussions about souring and sprouting, I’ll leave it be and fill you in about grains.

Why Do I Need to “Soak” Grains?

Soaking grains is essentially mimicking nature in germinating the seed. By letting the grain sit, the enzymes go to work, breaking down what the seed has as protective measures which actually inhibit our digestion. Soaking makes the digestion easier and allows us to make more use of the grains we’re eating. By soaking, we’re allowing for the breaking down of the grain and it eases the whole process for our systems.

“All grains contain phytic acid in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long-term, many other adverse effects.” – foodmatters.tv

Soaking grains is a traditional method that is not only seen across human culture but in animals too. Some birds mimic this soaking process in their mouths, by letting the grains break down there before eating it! At the most basic level, soaking grains is a natural thing.

How Do I Soak Grains?

Soaking grains is typically an overnight process but it can

take as long as 24 hours, depending on grain and depending on recipe. We’ve done recipes where we’ve made the mixture at 7pm one night and we fry them up at 10pm the next evening – because I’m working. They’ve turned out well, a little tangier, but very good.

The recipe I’d love to share with you is one we’ve been working with for a short time and feel confident we’ve already mastered. It’s a great option for quick meals, and it’s fun to make. Except for the rolling and frying, the process is fairly hands off. Most of the effort is microscopic, which is fantastic. We make the dough and just let nature do its thing.

We got the recipe for Soaked Tortillas from Modern Alternative Mama and haven’t done much alteration to it, other than extending the soaking period from time to time and adding a bit more filtered water as the dough can be too dry without.

3 1/3c whole wheat flour.
1/4c coconut oil
1c filtered water
2 tsp real salt

After Soaking…

3tsp baking powder

How To:

Add flour, SOFTENED coconut oil, water and salt to a bowl and knead through. It’s a pain in the neck to try to get room temp coconut oil to mix into this without having to break up individual clumps so save yourself the time and annoyance.
Cover with a cloth and let sit overnight. Like I said, we’ve left this recipe for around 24 hours and it’s been JUST FINE. Don’t feel pressured to get this done at 6am before you head off to work. It will LIVE.
When you’re ready to start forming them, knead in the baking powder and separate into about 18. Roll out as THIN as you can for a more tortilla feel, a little thicker if you want more of a flatbread. (The flatbread feel is great for an open face guacamole and alfalfa sprout sandwich!).
Fry on medium in a coconut oiled pan until golden on both sides. We have gotten into a pattern where A rolls and I fry. As soon as A is done one, I’ve managed to flip and cook through on both sides.
Let cool and use.

These little guys are fabulous. We had a girlfriend over last night for drinks and apps and toasted these guys with some salt in the oven, paired it with salsa and guacamole, and it went wonderfully with a fresh margarita, handmade by A.

Sidenote: Small Whole-Wheat & Heirloom Whole Grains Shpiel

If you’re not doing whole grains or heirloom grains (kamut, einkorn, millet…), you should start now. White flour is the source of all evil.

That is TOTALLY exaggerating, but much nutritional evil. White flour (especially bleached) is of no use to our body, other than simple sugar. For A, struggling with hypoglycemia, we are fighting a battle daily to stabilize and maintain normal blood sugar levels. White flour (and sugars) cause dips and changes in blood sugar as it is so quickly absorbed. Whole grains are more stable. Don’t get me wrong, we do still have some all-purpose flour in our house but it’s used sparingly, at minimum, a 50/50 all-purpose to whole wheat ratio.