1 May, 2015
What are Tigernuts? + Tigernut Flour Crust (vegan, gluten free, paleo)
What the heck are tigernuts? I had never heard of them myself until recently. I had seen a handful of posts by fellow bloggers regarding tigernuts and I was immediately intrigued. I do love learning about the latest and greatest in healthy foods after all. So when Organic Gemini contacted me about testing out some of their products I jumped at the chance to give them a try! I believe tigernuts are going to gain in popularity because they are so friendly for many of the food lifestyles being followed today. People are turning to diets like vegan, gluten free, and paleo not just for the health benefits but often times as a way to heal from chronic conditions. Tigernuts are definitely something to pay attention to and find out more about.
What are Tigernuts?
Tigernuts (despite the name) are actually not nuts at all…they are tubers of a grass. Great news for those that have nut allergies. Tubers, like potatoes, are the underpart of stems similar to a root. They are used by plants to survive, to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season.
Tigernuts were discovered about 4000 years ago and have been used in some cultures for their nutritional benefits and healing properties. A recent Oxford study found that our ancient ancestors from East Africa ate a diet very high in tigernuts. This is particularly fascinating if you are a food traditionalist. Meaning that you believe in eating more like our ancestors did and not so much eating our typical processed diet of today.
Nutritional Value of Tigernuts
In the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development , “tiger nuts have long been recognized for their health benefits as they have a high content of soluble glucose and oleic acid, along with high energy content (starch, fats, sugars and proteins), they are rich in minerals such as phosphorous and potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron necessary for bones, tissue repair, muscles, the blood stream and for body growth and development and rich in vitamins E and C.”
In one study regarding weight and diabetes they found that, “daily consumption of tiger nut has been shown to contribute to effective weight loss and improvement of the metabolic disorders among obese diabetic patients.”
The fiber content in tigernuts (10 grams of naturally occurring, intact fiber in only 1 oz) could be effective in the treatment and prevention of many diseases including colon cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and gastrointestinal disorders.
Unlike other starchy vegetable tubers, such as potatoes, tigernuts are a good source of healthy fats. “Tiger nut oil has a monounsaturated profile (>60% monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA)), with a similar fatty acid (FA) profile to olive, hazelnut, macadamia nut, avocado, and apricot kernel oils.” (see here). This means it contains a non-inflammatory type of fat (the best kind)!
The starch content in tigernuts provides prebiotic properties for colon bacteria. Prebiotics are indigestible carbohydrates that reach the colon intact and can feed many strains of beneficial bacteria. We want nothing more than the good bacteria in our guts to be happy and healthy. Read more about prebiotics here.
How to Incorporate Tigernuts in Your Diet?
Adding tigernuts to your diet is easier then you may think. This is where Organic Gemini comes into play with their wide variety of products made with tigernuts.
Tigernut Horchata is a great alternative to milk and unlike most store bought dairy alternatives this horchata contains organic, real food ingredients.
Tigernut Raw Granola made with the tigernut flour is a great gluten free and grain free alternative to traditional granola. The banana cocoa flavor was my particular favorite!
Tigernut Raw Snack (find on Amazon) are the organic, raw, sun-dried tigernut themselves. They have a sweet and slightly nutty flavor. They are slightly chewy when eaten directly out of the bag. They also suggest soaking them in water to soften them and enhance their flavor. I couldn’t get enough…so delicious!
Tigernut Flour (find on Amazon) is being used in my recipe today. Easily use this flour to create some nutritious and delicious gluten free and grain free foods from cookies to pancakes.
Organic Gemini has generously offered to GIVEAWAY to 3 lucky winners one bag of Tigernut Raw Snack and one bag on Tigernut Flour. Open to US residents. See below to enter.
Tigernut Flour Crust (vegan, gluten free, paleo)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup tigernut flour
- 1/2 cup arrowroot starch
- 1/4 cup shortening or coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon curry powder for a savory crust omit this is you want a sweet pie crust
- 1/2 cup ice cold water
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375 degree.
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In a large bowl mix the flour, arrowroot, shortening, salt, and curry powder together until incorporated.
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Add in the cold water and mix further until a dough forms.
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In a pie plate or large tart pan press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan until evenly distributed.
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Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes until fully set and golden brown.
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Note: To make savory veggie pie add your favorite roasted veggies to the savory crust and top with your favorite marinara sauce. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.
Recipe Notes
*choose organic ingredients when possible.
Disclaimer| This recipe post was sponsored by the amazing team of Organic Gemini. I was compensated in the form of product, but all opinions remain my own! I wouldn’t share products or brands I don’t believe in.
6 Comments
This looks like a great crust. What type of filling could I use for a dessert but it needs to be very low or preferably, sugar free? Any ideas? My mother has a severe auto-immune disorder and one of the resulting problems is chronic, painful thrush. We’ve really been researching Candida diets and trying recipes that don’t have refined sugar or gluten as both encourage yeast growth. Mom is a tiny little woman to begin with and when the thrush is bad, she doesn’t want to eat at all because it’s too painful… With diet changes and meds, she is showing some minimal but positive changes. She does miss the occasional sweet treat and I would love to find some recipes that she might enjoy. All suggestions welcome and thanks!
For candida it is generally recommend that at first you avoid all sugars, even fruit. You could try full fat coconut cream sweetened with a little stevia and see if that satisfies her. For oral thrush, you could try 3 drops of clove oil with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and swish in the mouth for 20 minutes. Hope this helps!
Hi, have you tried making this in a food processor or stand mixer? If so, any tips?
Thanks!
A food processor would work nicely. I would mix all of the dry ingredients first then add the wet ingredients and blend until everything came together in a nice dough.
Hi, thanks for the awesome recipe, loving these tigernuts!
So far I’ve only made a sweet crust, but tonight I wanna try to make something resembling a pizza =).
A couple of questions regarding the savory veggie pie version:
– am I supposed to add the veggies to the crust itself and then bake it or are they meant as a topping?
– do I bake the crust fully, add marinara and toppings and then bake it for another 40 minutes or is that total baking time and I should add all toppings and sauce at the start?
Since I’m about to start I am gonna go for just the curry powder in the crust and add veggies and sauce after fully baked, then put it back in the oven till the toppings are done. Let’s hope it works!
Thanks either way!
Once the crust is baked you add the veggies and top with the marinara sauce and bake again to warm everything..hope that helps.