Though currently unknown in most of America, amaranth grain has been used for over 5000 years by the Aztecs and South American civilizations., especially duing religious ceremonies. Mexico has used the grain to make a candy called alegria (“happiness”) for centuries, while India currently puts it in some states’ mandatory lunch programs. The US has conducted research on the plant since the 70’s but the product has only gained hold in organic food stores among a very specific clientele. Although it isn’t cultivated, it is very much prevalent in the Americas as a common weed.
A friend (also in this class!) recommended the grain to me as her mom loves to make it in its cereal form for breakfast, and let me borrow a jar of the seeds. While cooking this grain, the kitchen filled with an incredibly homey smell – similar to almonds and oatmeal. That smell by itself attracted people to the pot, none of whom had heard of the seed. The small seeds themselves started out a sandy color and became darker as they simmered on the stove, eventually gaining a consistency somewhere between oatmeal and couscous. I was careful cooking the grain as different sites and blogs online offered different recipes for its preparation as a cereal all with different ratios of water to seed: I ended up using a little more than 2/3 cup water for 1/3 cup seed. I found this recipe for an oatmeal-like cereal to be the most convenient, but you could also pop the kernels like popcorn.
The finished version was excellent: almondy, warm, and grainy was made sweet with a hint of maple syrup for a hearty breakfast similar to a bowl of oatmeal though more savory, like couscous or rice. The texture was very gritty (due to the many small seeds), and reminded me a lot of shaved almonds due to the flavor as well. It had a base kind of aftertaste, like what you experience after eating vegetables or rice. Overall, amaranth was a perfect breakfast, filling and tasty while nutritious and not too heavy.
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