Cooking Amaranth - DIY Guide- By: Musarrat Sheikh

Description : Amaranth is a whole grain that is nutritious and available in several health food stores. This is a delicious food for the vegetarians where they can get the proteins needed for a healthy diet. Amaranth also has high levels of calcium as well as magnesium when compared to dairy products. It also has a high fatty acid content level and this will mean that it needs to be stored in a container or refrigerator for up to 3 months. Amaranth grain is a light brown type of seed that comes from the amaranth plant and it is mainly grown in South America and Asia.

In most cases amaranth is prepared and eaten as rice or other grains and as a creamy side dish. Amaranth is easy to prepare even for those who are doing it for the very first time and this may be included in your everyday guide. One of the ways of preparing amaranth is by popping it just like popcorn by adding a little vegetable oil into a heavy sauce pan and then add the amaranth seeds. This pan should then be covered and then gently shaken or slide it over a burner as you are popping the amaranth seeds over medium to medium high heat.

The pan should always be moving as you don't want some seeds burning at the bottom. A small amount of corn syrup or maple syrup should be added after most of the seeds have popped and this will help in creating a delicious form of amaranth kettle corn. Amaranth can be taken as a snack by roasting it, grinded into flour to use for baking as well as sprouted to have a salad topping. Amaranth may also be boiled to result in porridge or may be used in the place of couscous or rice.

If you wish to boil amaranth, for every one cup of amaranth you need 2 ? cups of water or chicken broth or apple juice. The amaranth seeds should then be simmered for about 20 minutes and this is when the seeds will become tender and somewhat sticky. You will need several things when you are cooking amaranth. These will include 1 cup amaranth grain, 3 cups water, ? teaspoons salt, medium saucepan with lid as well as a spoon. The first step will be to pour 1 cup of amaranth grain and the 3 cups of water into the medium saucepan ad place it on heat.

You should then sprinkle the ? teaspoon of salt on the grain and stir this together. You should then increase the heat to high and heat it the pan while it is not covered until it comes to boil. After it has boiled you should then reduce to low heat and then cover the saucepan where it should cook for about 25 minutes. Later remove the cover and check to see if all the water has soaked up and if so turn of the heat and put the saucepan cover back. Leave it for about 10 minutes to allow the excess moisture redistribute through the grain and then remove the lid and stir. The dish will now be ready for serving.

Article Source : http://www.look4articles.com/

Author Resource : This article touched the basics of the topic. I have 2 more resources related to the above. They are cooking amaranth and Everyday Guide. Do consider reading them.