Food Production: RICE, CEREALS & PULSES NOTES
RICE: Rice is the seed of a
monocot plant Oryza sativa. As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple
food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East,
South, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies. It
is the grain with the second highest worldwide production, after maize
("corn").
[1] Since a large portion of maize
crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption, rice is probably the
most important grain with regards to human nutrition and caloric intake,
providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human
species.
[2]A traditional food plant in Africa,
rice has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural
development and support sustainable land care.
[3]Rice is normally grown as an annual
plant, although in tropical areas it can survive as a perennial and can produce
a crop for up to 30 years.
[4]The rice plant can grow to 1–1.8 m
tall, occasionally more depending on the variety and soil fertility. The grass
has long, slender leaves 50–100 cm long and 2–2.5 cm broad. The small
wind-pollinated flowers are produced in a branched arching to pendulous
inflorescence 30–50 cm long. The edible seed is a grain (caryopsis) 5–12 mm
long and 2–3 mm thick.
Types of Rice:
1. Paddy Rice - Rice still in its
original state with no further
Treatment after threshing.
2. Brown Rice - (Husked Rice) Rice
with the outer husk
Removed having a characteristic beige
color.
3. White Rice - Brown rice from which
all the germ is removed by passing through machines that rasp the grain. It is
also called unpolished rice.
4. Polished Rice - White rice that has
been passed through machines that remove any flour still adhering to the grain.
5. Glaze Rice - Polished rice covered
with a fine layer of french chalk and suspended in glucose, Specially processed
to give a shine.
6. Steamed Rice - Paddy rice that is
cleaned, soaked in hot water, steamed at low pressure, de-husked & blanched.
7. Pre-cooked Rice - Rice that has
been husked, soaked, boiled for 1 – 3 minutes. And dried at a high temperature.
8. Camolino Rice - Polished and
lightly coated with oil.
9. Puffed Rice - In India it is
roasted and fried on hot sand.
10. Wild Rice - The seed of an aquatic
grass, related to the rice plant, it grows one by one up the stalks and
resembles little black sticks. It is very expensive.
11. Basmati Rice - Indian rice with
long grains, with a distinctive flavor. Old basmati rice is the most prized and
is rarely available.
12. Sticky Rice - Round grain rice
which has a very high starch content. Rarely available, it is most ideal for
Chinese cooking.
13. Rice Flakes - Rice that is
steamed, husked & flattened into flakes, it is eaten for breakfast with
milk & sugar. Or as a savory preparation (poha)
Rice is also used to make a variety of
alcoholic drinks. :-
CHOUM - In Vietnam; SAMAV - In
Malaysia; SAKE - In Japan ; CHAO XING - In China
Nutrition: Rice has a very high
Calorific value (350 cal, per 100 g. in whole rice & 120 cal. Per 100 g. in
balanced rice). It is very rich in digestible starch (77 %) and also in
vitamins B1, B2 and minerals.
Cooking of Rice:
A) In Water:
1. Rice is put into the vessel with
twice the amount of water, brought to a boil, and cooked till the water is
absorbed.
2. Alternatively it can be poured into
a vessel of boiling water, brought to a boil, cooked and drained off.
B) In Stock -In this method the rice
is lightly fried in hot oil and stock is added to it. It is then cooked till
the Rice is soft and all the stock has been absorbed.
C) In Milk: Rice is normally cooked in
milk for making desserts. Short grained rice is ideal for this type of cooking
because the grains stick together thus giving thickening properties to the
dish.
PULSES
/LEGUMES/BEANS: A pulse is an annual
leguminous crop yielding from one to twelve grains or seeds of variable size,
shape, and color within a pod. Pulses are used for food and animal feed. The
term "pulse", as used by the Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO), is reserved for crops harvested solely for the dry grain. This excludes
green beans and green peas, which are considered vegetable crops. Also excluded
are crops that are mainly grown for oil extraction (oilseeds like soybeans and
peanuts), and crops which are used exclusively for sowing (clovers, alfalfa).
However, many of the varieties so classified and given below are also used as
vegetables, with their beans in pods while young cooked in whole cuisines and
sold for the purpose; for example black eyed beans, lima beans and Toor or
pigeon peas are thus eaten as fresh green beans cooked as part of a meal.
Pulses are important food crops due to their high protein and essential amino
acid content. Like many leguminous crops, pulses play a key role in crop
rotation due to their ability to fix nitrogen.
Protein
content:
Pulses are 20 to 25% protein by weight, which is double the protein content of
wheat and three times that of rice. For this reason, pulses are called
"vegetarian's meat". While pulses are generally high in protein, and
the digestibility of that protein is also high, they often are relatively poor
in the essential amino acid methionine, although Indian cuisine includes sesame
seeds, which contain high levels of methionine. Grains (which are they
deficient in lysine) are commonly consumed along with pulses to form a complete
protein diet.
Health: Pulses have significant nutritional and health advantages for
consumers
[1] They are the most important
dietary predictor of survival in older people of different ethnicities
[2] And in the Seven Countries Study,
legume consumption was highly correlated with a reduced mortality from coronary
heart disease.
Classification
of pulses:
1. Dry beans
* Kidney bean, haricot bean, pinto bean,
navy bean
* Lima bean, butter bean
* Azuki bean, adzuki bean
* Mung bean, golden gram, green gram
* Black gram, Urad
* Scarlet runner bean
* Ricebean
* Moth bean
* Tepary bean
2. Dry broad beans
* Horse bean
* Broad bean
* Field bean
3. Dry peas
* Garden pea
* Protein pea
4. Chickpea, Garbanzo, Bengal gram
5. Dry cowpea, Black-eyed pea,
blackeye bean
6. Pigeon pea, Arhar /Toor, cajan pea,
congo bean
7. Lentil
8. Bambara groundnut, earth pea
9. Vetch, common vetch
10. Lupins
11. Minor pulses include:
* Lablab, hyacinth bean
* Jack bean , sword bean
* Winged bean
* Velvet bean, cowitch
* Yam bean
12. Sprouts: Edible Sprouts are germinated plant seeds which are
edible. They are usually produced by soaking the seeds at regular intervals
over a 1-4 day interval. Sprouts are believed to be highly nutritious and rich
in enzymes which promote good health.
Convenience: - They can be easily
grown anywhere.
Offers a variation: - With their nutty
flavor and crisp texture. Sprouts are simply a nice change from vegetable.
Cooking of Pulses and
legumes: Since pulses and legumes are very low
in moisture content they have to be soaked in water. It’s advisable to soak
pulses and boil them in the same water in which soaked as some nutrients may have
bleached out to water. Besides boiling pulses are roasted, fried and ground to
make flour and then be used for various purposes.
Uses of Pulses:
1. As dals - the basic course of
Indian cookery.
2. As soups - e.g. Mulligatawny
3. Providing mutual supplementation of
amino acids in Khicdi
4. As flour in missi roti, Besani
roti.
5. As basic ingredient for idlis,
uttapas and chillas.
6. As base ingredient or coating as in
pakodas, wadas of various kinds.
7. As base for desserts like laddoos,
mobanthal, payasam, Boondi.
8. As snacks like fried dal, sev,
ganthias
9. Base ingredients for papads.
10. As stuffing as in dal kachories,
puran polies, stuffed tikkis.
11. In chats and sprouted salads.
No comments:
Post a Comment