Multi Grain Breakfast Cereal

I have not bought a regular breakfast cereal in about three years. We replaced the packaged sugary cereals with steel cut oats a couple of years back. Although, I really like oats but despite my experiments with new interesting toppings, of late I have started to find them too boring. That is why I was super duper excited when I came across this muli-grain cereal recipe - not only does this breakfast give you a good serving of a healthy variety of different cereals it had a lovely crunchy taste.

Serves: Makes about 18 (1/4th) cup portions

INGREDIENTS:

The ingredients give below are for making a big batch of dry multi-grain cereal.

• 1 cup buckwheat
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup millet
• 1 cup amaranth
• 1 cup barley
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup chia seeds

Mix all the ingredients together and store in a big jar.

NOTES:

• For your first attempt, instead of premixing all the grains in a big quantity - I would suggest making one small batch by adding all the varieties in a much smaller proportion - to see if you actually like the end result or not. I made my first batch with about 2-3 tbsp of each ingredient.
• It is very very important to soak the grains first (I will write in detail about this in my next post). If you forget to soak them the night before - try and soak them for an hour or two (or however much time you can) before cooking.
• UPDATE: Recently my friend made good old khichdi by adding mung dal to this grain mix and it turned out to be super duper yummy. So, making khichdi with this grain mix is another great way to consume a variety of grains at other meal times.

PROCESS:

• Pre-soak 1/4th cup of pre-mixed cereal in 1/2 cup of water and 1tbsp of vinegar and keep it overnight
• In the morning, wash the grains thoroughly. I use a very fine mesh sieve because amaranth is a very fine grain and it just slips out of bigger sieves.
• Add another 1/2 cup of water to the cereal and cook it on low flame for about 10-12 mins or until they are fully cooked. (If you did not soak the grains, then you might have to increase the cook time to about 20 mins)
• Once the cereal is cooked - add milk of your choice along with fresh and dry fruit toppings.
• Toppings Suggestions: I add whatever fresh fruit is in season - which is pear, apple and kiwi as of now. I top it with hemp, bee pollen (quite a few people are allergic to it - so start with just 1 grain and increase the amount gradually), goji and inca berries and coconut flakes.
  
  
  
  
  

Recipe Source: My New Roots