Description of lentil flour, making at home. Calorie content, composition, benefits and harms when used for food purposes. What dishes can be cooked, the history of the product and the use in home cosmetology.
Lentil flour is a food product that is obtained by threshing legumes. The texture is powdery, the color depends on the variety, it can be reddish, yellowish, grayish-green or black. The smell is fresh, with a slight nutty tinge, without dust and earth. It is used for baking baked goods and as a thickener.
How is lentil flour made?
To make lentil flour, the beans are harvested at maturity, when the pods begin to dry out. In small farms, whips are picked by hand; in large farms, a header with a built-in drum, a power window and a device that controls the cutting height is used. They start work in the morning, before the dew dries, in order to reduce losses due to pod cracking.
Lentil flour production consists of several processes:
- The pods are poured into a hopper, from where they go to a separator. Threshing and dehulling are carried out in a variable speed device so as not to damage the beans.
- Before grinding, the lentils are washed and dried with a directed air stream.
- They are ground using a processor with built-in sieves with various types of holes. The process is repeated as many times until a homogeneous structure is achieved. The size of the grains is up to 0.2 mm.
How to make lentil flour at home depends on the type of crop. The yellow, red or brown beans are washed, dried in the oven, laid out in one layer on a baking sheet and the oven door opened slightly, at a temperature of 40 ° C. To speed up the process, you can periodically stir. Then grinding is carried out using a food processor, meat grinder or blender. It is necessary to control the process. If you overexpose, you get "powder".
Before grinding, green beans are soaked for a day, periodically changing the water - preferably every 3-4 hours. Then the cereals are washed, ground wet, and then dried, spreading in one layer on a baking sheet or in a dehydrator. The product will dry out at room temperature if it is spread out on food parchment. A paper or cotton towel is placed underneath to absorb the moisture.
Whatever plant variety you take for cooking a food product, you will have to use it within 3-5 days. It deteriorates quickly, even when stored in a refrigerator in an airtight container. It is advisable to leave flour purchased in a store in a paper bag or pour it into a linen bag and put it in a ventilated room with a temperature of 10-15 ° C. The product retains its qualities for 7 months, then useful substances disintegrate, which negatively affects the taste.
Composition and calorie content of lentil flour
In the photo lentil flour
The energy value of various types of agricultural crops varies slightly. As a raw material for grinding, a green variety of beans (grayish-green color) is often used, which has the second name "plate", for flattened seeds.
The calorie content of lentil flour is 310-321 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Protein - 24 g;
- Fat - 1.5 g;
- Carbohydrates - 50 g;
- Dietary fiber - 11.5 g;
- Water - 13 g.
Vitamins per 100 g:
- Vitamin A - 5 mcg;
- beta carotene - 0.03 mg;
- Vitamin B1, thiamine - 0.5 mg;
- Vitamin B2, riboflavin - 0.21 mg;
- Vitamin B5, pantothenic acid - 1.2 mg;
- Vitamin B9, folate - 90 mcg;
- Vitamin E, alpha tocopherol - 0.5 mg;
- Vitamin PP - 5.5 mg;
- Niacin - 1.8 mg
Macronutrients per 100 g:
- Potassium, K - 672 mg;
- Calcium, Ca - 83 mg;
- Silicon, Si - 80 mg;
- Magnesium, Mg - 80 mg;
- Sodium, Na - 55 mg;
- Sulfur, S - 163 mg;
- Phosphorus, P - 390 mg;
- Chlorine, Cl - 75 mg.
Microelements per 100 g:
- Aluminum, Al - 170 mcg;
- Boron, B - 610 μg;
- Iron, Fe - 11.8 mg;
- Iodine, I - 3.5 mcg;
- Cobalt, Co - 11.6 μg;
- Manganese, Mn - 1.19 mg;
- Copper, Cu - 660 μg;
- Molybdenum, Mo - 77.5 μg;
- Nickel, Ni - 161 μg;
- Selenium, Se - 19.6 μg;
- Titanium, Ti - 300 mcg;
- Fluorine, F - 25 μg;
- Chromium, Cr - 10.8 μg;
- Zinc, Zn - 2.42 mg.
Digestible carbohydrates per 100 g:
- Starch and dextrins - 43.4 g;
- Mono- and disaccharides (sugars) - 2.9 g;
- Sucrose - 1.81 g.
The high content of amino acids in the composition of lentil flour should also be noted. Among the irreplaceable (12 species), arginine, leucine, lysine predominate; among the nonessential - glutamic and aspartic acid, glycine.
Glycine is an amino acid on which the perception of signals from the outside and the responses of the nervous system depend: excitement, inhibition, the ability to remember. The substance is even synthesized artificially.
Another compound that adds value to a food is isoflavones. They are preserved even after heat treatment.
The benefits and harms of lentil flour depend on the purine content. That is why the variety with the faintest color is used for threshing. Red and black beans contain a high amount of uric acid salts, which can negatively affect the health of the joints and increase the risk of developing gout. The lighter the color, the more neutral the effect on the body.
Benefits of lentil flour
The high amount of easily digestible protein in soy flour allows you to maintain the body's energy reserve, and the vitamin-mineral complex - to replenish the vitamin-mineral reserve. In the bakery industry, the grinding of this type of legume is introduced into the dough to stabilize the baking qualities and improve the properties of gluten.
Health Benefits of Lentil Flour:
- It stabilizes the work of the digestive tract, accelerates peristalsis, promotes the removal of toxins and toxins.
- Prevents anemia and atherosclerosis, stimulates the dissolution of cholesterol plaques, which have already become entrenched in the lumen of blood vessels.
- Suppresses the production of atypical cells.
- Increases the body's resistance to aggressive external influences: viral attacks, ultraviolet radiation.
- Normalizes the work of the pancreas, lowers blood sugar levels.
- Has anti-inflammatory and mild diuretic effect.
- It has an antioxidant effect, prevents the occurrence of colon and rectal cancer.
Traditional healers in Bulgaria use finely ground lentils to make a cure for cancer. Flour is mixed in equal amounts with dried potato flowers, brewed like tea - 1 tbsp. l. for 250 ml of liquid, insulate. After 3 hours, filter and drink during the day, divided into 3 doses, 40 minutes before meals. The course of treatment is determined by the volume of the mixture. After drinking 4 liters, you need to rest for 2 weeks, and then repeat the course of treatment.
The plant has a special property - it does not accumulate nitrogen fertilizers, toxins and heavy metal salts. Therefore, products made from the grinding of beans are considered environmentally friendly.
Introducing lentil flour baking recipes into your diet is beneficial at any age. For men, it slows down degenerative disorders of the reproductive system, for women entering menopause, suppresses hot flashes. Benefits for pregnant women - improves the formation of the neural tube of the fetus, in young children it stimulates the brain and suppresses the development of encephalopathy.
Read more about the benefits of pea flour
Contraindications and harm of lentil flour
Any product, even without fertilizers, carcinogens and toxic substances, can cause an allergic reaction. If you are intolerant to legumes, you should not include dishes made on the basis of lentil flour in the daily menu. If symptoms appear while walking in a flowering field, then you should not use the product in your home kitchen.
It is worth giving up lentil flour for diseases of the digestive tract and organs. The negative effect of legumes is an increase in flatulence, the likelihood of the development of fermentation and putrefactive processes. With increased gas formation, colic occurs and painful sensations appear.
Lentil flour can cause harm in children under 3-5 years old - at this age, the intestinal flora is unstable, and an increased load provokes the development of dysbiosis.
If varieties of beans with seeds of red, black or brown color were used for grinding, you will have to refuse from the use of dishes and bakery products in case of exacerbation of arthrosis, gout, osteochondrosis and urolithiasis. Purines in the composition stimulate the accumulation of uric acid in the joints and the deposition of calculi in the kidneys.
Lentil Flour Recipes
The grinding of legumes is introduced as a stabilizer in sausages and aspic, added when baking baked goods, used as a thickener for sauces.
Lentil Flour Recipes:
- Pancakes … To make it tastier, fried onions are used as a flavoring additive. The onion is chopped and fried in sunflower oil until golden brown. Knead the dough: beat 2 eggs with 1, 5 glasses of milk, add salt, pepper, add so much lentil flour to make a liquid homogeneous dough. Put onions in it along with the rest of the oil. Pour into a hot frying pan with a ladle and fry on both sides.
- Salma … Chicken broth, 2 l, cook in advance, be sure to add spices, carrots, onions, aromatic herbs. Then they filter, lay the meat. Lentil flour, 0.5 kg, sift, add salt, stir in the egg and pour in the chicken broth. The steep dough is rolled into a layer and cut into small squares. Each is rolled into a ball, flattened with palms and squeezed out in the middle with a dimple - a figure resembling a mouse's ear is obtained. Salma is boiled in broth, poured into plates, in which there is already pre-cut (or grained) meat. Sprinkle with herbs and serve until it's cold.
- Lentil flour bread in a bread maker … The bowl is filled in the following order: 350 ml of warm water, 2 tbsp. l. cream, 10 drops of olive oil, 30 g of butter, 500 g of wheat and 50 g of lentils, 2 tsp. salt. 2 tbsp. l. sugar, 1, 5 tsp. fast baker's yeast. Set the "Accelerated baking" mode. After the sound signal, when mixing, pour in crushed sunflower seeds - 2 tbsp. l., cinnamon powder - 0.5 tsp. 2-3 minutes before the end of the lifting mode, the surface of the future loaf is sprinkled with whole seeds. Additional baking time may be required.
- Siberian soup … A thick-walled saucepan or pot is heated with sunflower oil and finely chopped onions, grated carrots, 3-4 celery stalks are fried in it - 1-2 cm pieces, without leaves, half of a young zucchini - thin circles. Pour 4 tbsp. l. lentil flour and stir until excess fat is absorbed. Water is poured in a thin stream, without ceasing to interfere, 1.5 liters, add some salt, pepper. The vegetables are brought to readiness. Pour the soup into bowls until it cools down and sprinkle each portion with a mixture of parsley and dill.
See also soy flour recipes.
Interesting facts about lentil flour
The legume culture began to be grown 3, 5 thousand years BC. After it, barley and wheat were planted - even then they noticed that the yield was doubling. In the twentieth century, during research, it was found that legume tubers in the soil accumulate nitrogenous compounds, which stimulates the growth of cereals.
Dishes made from lentils were popular among the peoples of the Middle East, and in ancient Rome they were equated with aphrodisiacs - it was noticed that regular consumption increases "masculine strength."The ancient Greeks believed that red beans increased the efficiency and diligence of children, while black and yellow beans strengthen the courage of warriors.
It is interesting that lentil flour began to be added to dough in Ancient Russia. It was noticed that the bread becomes more fluffy and tasty. In 1891-1892, during a prolonged drought, the percentage of milling of legumes when baking bread reached 70-80%. Of all the cereals, only lentils were collected. If not for her, an unprecedented famine would have broken out in the country. By the way, culture not only saved lives, but also helped to establish itself in the world market. More than 75% were grown for export.
In the Soviet Union, the area allotted for this crop was 1 million hectares. Flour was introduced into sausages, sweets, all types of baked goods. But after the Great Patriotic War, only 30 thousand hectares were sown, and India became the main supplier to the world market. This is simply explained, despite the general mechanization, it is unprofitable to use reapers or combines for harvesting - the pods ripen unevenly. Indian peasants harvest it by hand - the labor of European workers is much more expensive, and growing on an industrial scale is not profitable.
The product is used not only for food purposes. In home cosmetology, masks with this ingredient will help remove fine wrinkles, increase skin tone and stop the loss of precious moisture:
- Recipe for rejuvenation … Dilute the flour with sour cream to a pasty consistency, add 2-3 drops of essential oil (optional) of ylang-ylang, almond or grape seeds. Apply on steamed face skin and wait until it dries up. Wash off with green tea.
- Against increased fat content … 2 tbsp. l. lentils are mixed with 1 tbsp. l. honey and protein 1 egg.
- To improve skin tone … Main ingredient, 2 tbsp. l., diluted with aloe juice and add a little honey.
After the mask is removed, rinse the face with cold water to close the pores. It is advisable to apply a nourishing cream.
Despite the fact that the legumes are grown "abroad", you can buy lentil flour in supermarkets. The price of 1 kg in Russia is 145-190 rubles, in Ukraine - 30-50 UAH.
Watch a video about lentil flour:
