For Shivananda,

[vickiesltw]

Inquiring minds want to know. How do you make raw pita bread? You mentioned this in the thread about hummus. Several of us want to know how you make it.

However, either a. I am blind and have missed the directions, b. you missed the post and did not answer yet, or c. The kitten is still up a tree and you are rescuing it, d. Deep dark family secret recipe not allowed to share
My vote is c.

Please help me with this by showing me where it is. or Devulging recipe if possible.

thanks

Lil' Brat

[Shivananda]

Choice D, for Development

I've been buried in developmental research here at Shivananda Test Kitchens, working on the new ShivaSprouter II (tm) and trying to find the perfect rolling cart for Excaliber Dehydrators... and I think I've found the latter! Details to follow soon.

Pita, pita, pita... ok, which one? The sprouted buckwheat one perhaps? Yes, I think so. OK, let me see what I can do. First I have to cut the receipe down for you...

Oh, unless you are comfortable working with 12 quart batches?

Now, lessee, where did I put those notes?

[Shivananda]

Shiva's Raw Tsatziki

Fabulous raw Greeky cucumber dip, goes with everything

Ingrediments:

2 cups seed or nut yogurt
I fresh regular cucumber (or 1/3 - 1/2 English)
1 pinch fresh chopped dillweed (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Vinegar
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Directions:

Grate the cucumber or chop very fine.
Strain cucumber tightly using a cloth, or press into a mesh strainer with a spoon until liquid free.
Mix "dry" cucumber and other ingredients together.
Taste.
Correct seasoning.
Stop eating occasionally to notice whatever else is going on around you

[vickiesltw]

Choice D, for Development
Pita, pita, pita... ok, which one? The sprouted buckwheat one perhaps? Yes, I think so. OK, let me see what I can do. First I have to cut the receipe down for you...

Oh, unless you are comfortable working with 12 quart batches?

Now, lessee, where did I put those notes?

Waiting with baited breath.

Lil' Brat

[Shivananda]

Waiting with baited breath. Didja catch a mouse yet? :)

Sorry, this took longer than I thought it would, because when I make this I just kind of throw it together and hadn't actually formulated a recipe for it until now. This recipe makes maybe a dozen 6" pitas depending on how thick you like them. Not the pocket kind, obviously, but something substantial you can nicely roll up into a cone and stuff with goodies and adorn with tzatski, like a Greek gyro, or use to dip hummus with.

Shivananda's Sprouted Buckwheat Pita/Flatbread

1 1/2 cups flax seeds, ground fine
2 cups carrot pulp, from the juicer
1/2 cup sesame seed, whole

Mix these three together in a large bowl

Process the following together until creamy:
3 cups sprouted buckwheat
1/4 - 1/2 cup water

Then add, and process together briefly ( a few pulses should do it):
1/2 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
whatever spices you like*

Now take this mixture, add to the mixing bowl and smoosh everything together with your fingers until uniformly blended. No seriously, you have to smoosh with your fingers for it to turn out OK. If you just don't do smoosh, see if a neighbor will lend you their children to smoosh. Kids love to smoosh. So should you, but that is a matter for another day.

Once the mixture is smooshed, put about 1/4 cup in a ball in each quadrant of a Teflex sheet (or wax paper or parchment paper or plastic wrap or old treasure maps) and put another sheet over it and flatten with a rolling pin or a bottle to the desired thickness and circumferance ( I like about 1/8" thick and maybe 6" around). Peel off the top Teflex, put on dehydrator rack and dry to soft leather stage. Keep in the fridge a week or so, or separate with parchment paper and freeze for longer term storage.

A little smaller size, like 4", they make a nice sandwich bread. A larger portion, maybe a cup, spreads out to the full size of a dehydrator rack and when scored into wedges makes a good pizza crust.

*"spices you like"... this is a versatile basic flatbread which you can make stand in for many different ethnic breads just by adding a tablespoon or more of spices you like to the final mix. Add some italian spices to get "Italian" bread, add some curry for an "Indian" bread, add some finely chopped kalamata olives and a little red onion for a "Greek" bread , add some caraway for a "Rye", add some hempseed for a "Dutch" bread. :)

Please use and enjoy, and don't worry, and be happy, but if you pass my recipe on to others please tell them whose fault it is. Lalalala. Shivananda Deva - April 2006

[Raw Jewelrylady]

thanks Mr shiva-I've been waiting to see this recipe as well. I will try it out & report back.

Lana

Ps. I love "smooshing" :D :)

[luvnraw]

Shivananda,

Thanks for sharing the recipe! Smooshing is the best part and makes you feel like a kid ;) I wouldn't dare share that part of it! Do you dehydrate at the higher temperatures at first and then lower it or just low all the time? I have an excalibur and am trying to figure out temp and how long it might take for the soft leather stage as you put it.....also do you use hulled or unhulled sesame seeds or would it matter? I have both.... :rolleyes: Next time you have them you should post a pic all rolled and filled with whatever you liked for the night :p Thanks again and have a great night!

[Shivananda]

Smooshing is the best part and makes you feel like a kid. Exactly! I don't know why more people don't smoosh. It's such a great way to work out your tensions.


Do you dehydrate at the higher temperatures at first and then lower it or just low all the time? Based on the Excaliber research and my own studies and conversations with a number of chefs at raw restaurants, I always dehydrate first at the highest temperature, for the fastest dehydration time possible. Once the internal temperature of the food rises above 100 degrees F, which takes most of the drying cycle to reach, it's time to turn the thermostat down to 115 to finish.

I use a Pyrex digital thermometer with remote probe and alarm to help me do that. (One model is $14 at WalMart, another is $20 at Bed Bath & Beyond) I set the alarm for 100 degrees and insert the probe in the food. If I am doing several different items at the same time I put the probe in the thinnest one, otherwise just in the first one in. The flexible lead to the probe makes it easy to close the door, and still place the thermometer guage on top of the dehydrator for easy viewing. And the alarm means I can do other things without having to check it all the time.

Until you get one, the old fashioned way is still good, if not so accurate. If the food feels damp or cool to you, the higher thermostat setting is appropriate. Once the feel changes of the food changes to war or dry, turn the temp down. Remember always that the goal with dehydrating to to dry the food as quickly as possible, within rawsafe limits, to reduce the opportunity for unwanted fermentation or mold growth.


I have an excalibur and am trying to figure out temp and how long it might take for the soft leather stage as you put it..... A LOT depends on how wet the mix is to begin with, and on how dry the ambient air is, so it's very hard to say... but perhaps an average time for me might be 6 - 8 hours. And I double flip* them after a couple of hours and turn down the temp maybe 2/3 of the way through?


also do you use hulled or unhulled sesame seeds or would it matter? I have both.... I use hulled for whole seed uses. I don't think the body digests unhulled sesame well unless they are ground.

*Double flip - when you dehydrate food on Teflex sheets, after a while you need to flip it off the Teflex to allow the bottom to dry. For thick items like burger patties you flip them by placing a spare screen over the food, then a rack, then compressing the racks together slightly to secure everything in place, flipping them over, then peeling off the original rack, screen, and Teflex sheet, finally popping the new rack back into the dehydrator.

With thin items like crackers or flat breads or pizza crusts, if the food starts to curl up or "potato chip" on you it's a sign you need to flip it, and double flipping often works best for me. This starts out just like the above, but once you peel off the Teflex sheet, you put the original screen back over the food, then the original rack, and flip them again, so you get the food back onto the original rack but minus the Teflex. This is known as "double flipping."

Try them both to see what you prefer for the kinds of things you do. .

[luvnraw]

Thank so much for your detailed answers! I appreciate the time you take, I am a detailed oriented person :p I have a thermometer like that for candy making for everyone at the Holidays so I will use that to check temps! Have a great day!

[shelah]

shivananda,
thanks so much for the recipes!
for the pita, alas no juicer here. any suggestions to sub for the carrot pulp?
many blessings to you!
shelah

[Raw Jewelrylady]

Mr. Shiva...I just have to report back in as promised..I LOVE the pita bread recipe. Thanks so much for sharing with us how you make it-"smooshing" & everything. I used "curry" -made a wonderful open faced "cashew Hummus" sandwich with sprouts, tomatoes, lettuce & avo. It was just divine. :p

Thanks,
Lana

[Jadrien24]

"Based on the Excaliber research and my own studies and conversations with a number of chefs at raw restaurants, I always dehydrate first at the highest temperature, for the fastest dehydration time possible. Once the internal temperature of the food rises above 100 degrees F, which takes most of the drying cycle to reach, it's time to turn the thermostat down to 115 to finish."

EH?! We can do that? :eek: Does it make it only like 50% raw? Sorry, but could you explain a bit more of this technique of drying really high then low? Do you only use it for this recipe or can you use it for everything you dehydrate?

[aromaticwings]

I have never used buckwheat. I have tried to make things with wheatberries but yuck.. just do not taste good.. does buckwheat taste better?? Now to find it.

Thanks Shiva for this recipe.. sounds wonderful.. What would we do without you?? ;)

[Shivananda]

EH?! We can do that? :eek: Does it make it only like 50% raw? No, it's still all raw, as long as you monitor that the internal temperature of the food does not exceed 118, which is easy to do with a Pyrex alarm thermometer. The moisture in the food cools the food as it evaporates, so the actual food temperature is substantially cooler than the surrounding air temperature until the food is almost dry. So for instance when I make a moist belloburger patty, and dehydrate it at high temperature, the internal temperature of the patty is still is only at about 100 degrees after 3 hours.

Excaliber worked with Anne Wigmore and Viktoras Kulvinskas on this technique. See this letter from Excaliber to raw foodists for more details on this. http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/gen12a.htm

[Lunar*Fey]

thanks for the recipes :). How do you make seed yogurt? Can you use any seeds? I have some raw pumpkin seeds and would like to try using some of them in some recipes