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Nixtamalizing Millet for Corn-Free Tortillas, First Attempt.
Nixtamalization is an food preparation method invented by indigenous peoples in the Americas that increases the nutritional value of foods like maize. The extremely caustic solutions of calcium hydroxide (or even wood ash) convert the nutrients in the plant to more digestible components. It also tastes amazing. I’m allergic to corn, and I have a family member allergic to rice. My goal is to create a masa flour that can make a tortilla, or even a tamale, that has a lot of the taste and textures of these wonderful foods. And, you know, science.
I found a paper discussing nixtamalization of millet seed, a traditional food in many parts of Africa. I know millet is safe for us both, so figured it would be a good starting point. They were creating a kind of fried cake, which isn’t exactly what I’m making — but I figured was close enough to give it a shot.
TL;DR: I mostly succeeded, but I’ll definitely need to try some other ideas before trying to make this as part of a meal.
Ingredients
Millet seed, pickling lime (Calcium Hydroxide), water.
Experiment 1: Cook to gelatinization, Rest 12 hours
10 g of Calcium Hydroxide to 1 L of water. 3:1 cooked (768g bag of millet seed) and stirred continuously 30 min. got a little…
