Burgers

You may recall I made some cauliflower burger buns in my bid to find a decent fake bread recipe. They were ok as a cauliflower dish, but not really as buns.

I have since discovered psyllium husk powder. Psyllium husk is almost nothing but fibre and is usually used to sort one's bowels out as a dietary supplement or as the active ingredient in such medications as Fybogel.

It is now also used in carb-free baking. Was this to be the new wonder ingredient? I was not going to be put off by its medical uses nor by warnings that certain brands can turn purple when cooked.

I made naan breads with it first. They were not your typical (tandoori) oven baked bread, but fried. They turned slightly purple. They didn't taste bad, though, and they were flexible enough to fold over chunks of tandoori chicken. Not quite as good as the real thing, but getting there.

Next, I made burger buns. They didn't half rise. They looked like small rocks, oddly tinged with purple. When I cut them open, they were definitely purple. The crust was odd, kind of plasticky. The inside was so light and airy, that it was hard to tell what they tasted like. Mr Pandammonium said he enjoyed them.

I bought the psyllium husk powder from Holland and Barrett. A google search tells me this is a common brand to go purple, but no-one seems to know why.