Khorasan ("Kamut"tm) Wheat Berry Dhal with Greens (No Added Fat)

Yesterday after my Food for Life class, I went to a coop, Deep Roots Market, and was happy to find some items that I've not seen locally where I live. I picked up some ancient wheat berries; the variety is called Khorasan, but it is more commonly known by its trademarked name, Kamut.

I wanted to experiment with the wheat berries and read that they cook well after being soaked overnight and then cooking, for a soup, in 3 parts water for 30-40m (5 minutes more if not soaked) under pressure. Lentils cook in a 1:2 ratio to water over 15-20m.

I made a fortunate mistake and decided to pressure cook an equal proportion of wheat berries and lentils for 20m - my research would have led me to have picked 30m. I'm glad that I cooked for 20m as I loved the result! Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1 cup Khorasan Wheat Berries, rinsed and soaked overnight (alternatively, standard wheat berries could be used), then rinsed again
• 1 cup green lentils, rinsed
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1 t finely (1/8") minced ginger root
• 2 medium carrots cut into 3/4" lengths (about 2 cups)
• 2 cups fresh or frozen collard greens, chopped into 1/2" lengths
• 1 1/4 cups (about half of a medium onion) onion, cut into 1/4" cubes
• 1 t lemon or lime juice
• 1/2 t (or to taste) salt

Process

1. I put all of the ingredients except the greens, onion, lemon juice, and salt into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 20m.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the rest of the ingredients. Because the collards were frozen, I kept the Instant Pot in "keep warm" mode for a few minutes.
3. When I was ready to serve, I did so along with waterlessly cooked frozen roasted corn kernels and tomato.

Results

I loved dinner, and my daughter and wife enjoyed it, as well. I thought that the wheat berries added a fun and interesting texture. I liked the large size of the Kamut berries. I was delighted, as well, with the consistency; I like very thick dhals, and could have served this on the plate instead of in a bowl.

Ideas for the future

I should get more of these large wheat berries and explore more dishes with them.