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I am doing chapatis with quinoa flour. How can I remove or hide the bitterness of the quinoa?

There are several constraints for the solution: no egg, wheat, soy, dairy, corn, rice, meat.

sw.
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2 Answers2

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You are unable to do anything about it. The bitterness in commercially prepared flour is from the fact that they don't thoroughly rinse the saponin from the outside of the seeds. Once it's milled in, there really isn't anything you can do about it, doubly so when making a bread that is basically flour and water.

So you have two ways to fix it. One is grind your own quinoa flour, which is not too hard, after you make sure that it is rinsed all the way off. The second is to use a different type of flour, like tapioca.

sarge_smith
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  • I have an additional question: ok, I can't remove it BUT what is the best way to hide it using other ingredients? Since I am cooking with many restrictions it can be a bit tricky. – sw. Apr 20 '13 at 15:39
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If the seeds that were used were poorly washed prior to milling, then there is nothing you can do about it. What was the brand?

There is a chance that the taste you are getting is from enzymes, which will disappear when you toast the quinoa prior to using. Try pre-toasting the flour in a pan and let us know if that helps. I would always pre-toast quinoa flour.

beausmith
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Sergio Nunez De Arco
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  • I experienced much more bitterness with Sturla [ http://www.alimentossturla.com.ar/index_eng.html ] than with NatureCrops [ http://www.us.naturecrops.com/ ]. These are the brands available in Argentina. – sw. Jan 01 '13 at 12:14