Equipment:
- Cooking oven that heats to at least 200 degrees Centigrade
- Weighing scales
- Nutri-Bullet (or similarly effective grinding machine – do not attempt to do this with a pestle and mortar)
- Mixing bowl
- A (one pound) loaf tin or small round sponge cake tin
- Measuring jug
- Cup in which to weigh the seeds
- Wooden spoon
- Wire rack for cooling
- Baking papers
Ingredients:
ANY SEEDS (APART FROM LINSEEDS!) MAY BE REPLACED WITH ALTERNATIVES OF YOUR CHOICE TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THAT THEY WILL CONTAIN DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF CARBS/FIBRE/PROTEIN
- 20 grams of whole linseed (use golden linseed grains to keep the colour light)
- 110 grams of sunflower seeds (plus a handful of WHOLE sunflower seeds set aside to add to ground seed mix before stirring in water to make dough)
- 70 grams of pumpkin seeds (plus a handful of WHOLE pumpkin seeds set aside to add to ground seed mix before stirring in water to make dough)
- 60 grams of sesame seeds (plus a handful of WHOLE sesame seeds set aside to add to ground seed mix before stirring in water to make dough)
- 60 grams of chia seeds
- 5 grams of psyllium husks powder, (optional)
- 8 grams of unrefined rock or Himalayan sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- Dollop of coconut oil or lard (optional)
METHOD
Avoid commercially ground seeds as the flour may not be fine enough and the seeds will have absorbed moisture which will affect the quality of the dough. Weigh the ingredients in order to get the right proportion of water to seeds. No raising agent is required.
- Weigh the ingredients one by one and add them to a bowl. Pour the mix into the Nutri-bullet/grinder, filling half of it. Grind into fine flour. Pour the flour into a mixing bowl. Repeat the step above until you ground all the mix and add it to the mixing bowl.
- Add the handful of the un-grounded sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds to the mix.
- Add in between 250-280 ml water all in one go by using preferably lukewarm water or water at room temperature; do not dribble it in. Stir it with a wooden spoon and keep stirring. It will thicken over the course of approx 30 seconds. Keep stirring until it becomes sticky and holds together in a lump. Initially it will look as if you have added far too much water but keep stirring.
- Let the loaf ‘rest’ for a few minutes so it fully absorbs all the water and becomes an integral whole.
- Grease your loaf tin with coconut oil and line with baking parchment.
- Using wet hands, form the dough into a loaf shape and place in the tin. No need to knead or mess it about, just smooth it off and ‘plop’ it into the tin.
- You can sprinkle the top with poppy seeds or chia seeds or sunflower seeds if desired.
- Put the loaf into the middle rack of a hot oven – at least 180-200°C (approx. 390°F) – for 60 minutes. Ideally place a sheet of parchment/baking paper loosely on top so that the top of the loaf does not burn. Set a timer. The oven must be hot enough to turn the water in the loaf into steam because this is what raises it. When the timer goes off, take the baking paper form the top of the load and leave the loaf for another 5-10 minutes so that the top becomes slightly crispy but does not burn. Take the loaf out of the oven, tip it out and allow it to cool on a wire rack.
- Once cool keep it in a grease proof paper bag (no need to keep it in the fridge). It lasts for a week or so and can be also frozen in slices. It is best used sliced thinly with a narrow-bladed serrated knife.
Modified by Taymount’s Ecological Medical Doctor, Dr Shideh Pouria, from the original recipe of Dr Sarah Myhill’s in her “PK Cookbook.