Contents
History of buckwheat
Buckwheat is the seeds of common buckwheat. The word “buckwheat” comes from a shortened version of “Greek groats”, since it presumably came to Our Country from Greece.
Buckwheat is distributed throughout the world, and is considered an ancient culture. Its homeland is India and Nepal, where buckwheat was specially grown 4 thousand years ago. Further, buckwheat was brought to Asia, spread to the Middle East and came to Europe around the XNUMXth century.
Due to the active trade in buckwheat between different countries, it was called differently in each state. For example, in Italy and Greece – “Turkish grain”, and in France and Portugal – “Arabic”.
In India, buckwheat has been of great cultural importance ever since. During the religious festival of Navratri, Hindus are allowed to eat only certain vegetables, buckwheat and other grains. And in Nepal, buckwheat seeds are dried and gnawed as a snack, as we have sunflower seeds.
Also, buckwheat is considered an important honey plant – the famous buckwheat honey with a peculiar smell and taste of bees is made from buckwheat nectar.
Composition and calorie content
| Caloric value on 100 g | 95 kcal |
| Proteins | 4 g |
| Fats | 0,8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 19 g |
The use of buckwheat
Buckwheat is one of the most protein-rich cereals. In this sense, it is second only to peas. Buckwheat proteins contain many amino acids: lysine, tryptophan, which are necessary for the synthesis of their own proteins in the body. Therefore, buckwheat is of such great importance for vegetarians as a partial replacement for meat food.
Also, buckwheat is rich in starch – a carbohydrate that nourishes the body. Fiber in the composition gives a long feeling of satiety, so buckwheat is a favorite of many diets. With constipation, the same fiber helps to increase peristalsis and improve digestion. Although in large quantities, buckwheat causes the opposite effect.
Buckwheat is one of the few cereals that contains choline, a B vitamin necessary for the functioning of the nervous system. Some scientists believe that buckwheat even reduces the risk of cancer due to its high concentration of flavonoids. These substances prevent the growth of cancer cells.
There are a lot of other B vitamins in buckwheat, as well as fat-soluble vitamins E and K, which are absorbed only together with fats.
Harm of buckwheat
With moderate consumption of buckwheat, there are usually no problems. In some people, buckwheat causes allergic reactions.
– In large quantities, buckwheat can increase constipation, if a person is prone to this. On the contrary, after food poisoning, buckwheat is a fairly “easy” product to start eating again as before,” says nutritionist-consultant Dilara Akhmetova.
The use of buckwheat in medicine
The benefits of buckwheat in nutrition are invaluable. Especially known are “buckwheat diets”, in which they eat only buckwheat and kefir. Of course, any mono-diet is extremely harmful, because it does not provide the body with all the necessary substances. But if you include buckwheat in your main diet, it really contributes to weight loss. Buckwheat provides the body with proteins, and the feeling of hunger does not arise so quickly.
In classical medicine, many preparations are made on the basis of buckwheat. At the same time, many parts of the plant are harvested: flowers, leaves and stems. From the herbaceous part, pharmacists obtain the substance rutin, and the flowers are used to produce herbal preparations. Rutin is used in the treatment of vitamin P deficiency, to improve vascular permeability, which is impaired in many diseases – hypertension, rheumatism and others.
Buckwheat is also known in folk medicine. A decoction of buckwheat flowers was drunk against a dry cough with bronchitis. The decoction also facilitates the process of expectoration. Crushed dry or fresh leaves help to heal festering wounds and ulcers.
It is interesting to use buckwheat seeds in oriental medicine. Dry buckwheat is complemented by therapeutic massage sessions: bags with cereals are heated, and then laid out on problem points. The uniform warmth improves tissue blood flow and reduces pain. In cosmetology, coarse buckwheat flour is added to scrubs and peels to cleanse the skin.
The use of buckwheat in cooking
A lot of dishes are prepared from buckwheat, and they are even eaten raw, parsed. Buckwheat can be used to make casseroles, bread, meatballs, pancakes and pancakes. Buckwheat is used even in the manufacture of alcohol. It goes well with many products: vegetables, meat, milk, honey.
Boiled buckwheat
This cereal is one of the easiest to prepare, because when cooked, it does not release starch, which causes the grains to stick together. Despite this, crumbly porridge is not always obtained. Following the rules, you can get boiled buckwheat grain to grain
| Buckwheat grain | 1 Art. |
| Water | 2 Art. |
| Salt | to taste |
For cooking, a metal pan with a thick bottom is suitable, to which a lid is attached. Keep in mind that the volume of buckwheat increases by about 5 times.
It is necessary to boil water in a saucepan and add the washed cereals and salt. After boiling, reduce the fire to medium, cover with a lid and simmer for about 15 minutes. In the process, you can not lift the lid and stir the porridge. At the end, increase the heat again so that all excess water has evaporated.
To preserve the maximum of useful substances, you can steam buckwheat without any cooking, although this takes more time. It is necessary to pour buckwheat with boiling water in a saucepan or thermos in the same ratio, close the lid and after 5 hours the porridge will be ready.
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Greeks with stuffing
A healthy dish that will suit both meat lovers and vegetarians – after all, you can make any filling, and do not add minced meat. Inside the cutlet, you can put carrots, cabbage, onions. Consider the option of hearty meat buckwheat
| Buckwheat | 150 g |
| minced chicken | 500 g |
| Onions | 1 piece. |
| Eggs | 4 piece. |
| Green onion, dill, parsley | few branches |
| Ground black pepper, salt | to taste |
Buckwheat groats must be boiled in advance according to the recipe described above. Hard boil the eggs too. While everything is cooling, peel and finely chop the onion, fry it in vegetable oil for 5 minutes.
Add minced meat, fried onion, salt and pepper to boiled buckwheat, break an egg into it. To mix everything.
Prepare the filling: peel the eggs and coarsely chop or grate, add finely chopped herbs, pepper and salt.
Assemble the buckwheat: with wet hands form a bun out of minced meat with buckwheat, add the egg filling inside and pinch. Fry the cutlet in a pan for about 7 minutes on each side.
How to choose and store buckwheat
Buckwheat is of several types. The most useful and unprocessed is green buckwheat. This is the primary product, in the form in which buckwheat is harvested. It is usually consumed raw sprouted by vegetarians, although the taste may seem rather unusual.
Fried dry groats turn brown, acquire a different taste. It is called the core. Crushed to grains, the unground kernel is sold under the name “buckwheat prodel”. It cooks much faster, but contains fewer nutrients. Steamed flattened grains become buckwheat flakes that are convenient for a quick breakfast.
Regardless of which cereal you choose, it should be dry, without the smell of mold and mustiness. Also examine the bag for bug parasites. For this reason, it is better to buy packaged buckwheat – parasites are less likely to start in it.
Store cereals in a tightly closed container, jar or container in a dark place. Under all conditions, croup can lie for several years.