Sukkot 5772: Kamut Challah

I'm having so much fun with my King Arthur Flours, and for Sukkot, I tried making Kamut Flour Challah. King Arthur Flour's website says:

Discover the goodness of ancient grains. This Egyptian relative of wheat, now cultivated in North America, adds fiber, protein, and a slightly sweet taste to all your baking.

I'm not actually 100% sure I can even use Kamut Flour as challah, so please feel free to weigh in.  My research leads me to believe that is a wheat.  The exact origin of Khorasan What/Kamut is not known, but I read a few places that think it might be somewhere in the Fertile Crescent, which seems appropriately Biblical.  I did find this amazing hieroglyphic on Kamut, the name which comes from the hieroglyph for wheat.

Source

According to the website (the grain is patented), KAMUT® khorasan wheat shall:

1. Be the ancient khorasan variety of wheat
2. Be grown only as a certified organic grain
3. Have a protein range of 12 – 18%.
4. Be 99% free of contaminating varieties of modern wheat.
5. Be 98% free of all signs of disease.
6. Contain between 400 and 1000 ppb of selenium
7. Not be used in products in which the name is deceptive or misleading as to the content percentage
8. Not be mixed with modern wheat in pasta

So, here's what I did for my Kamut Challah (yield 3 small or 2 medium round loaves)

3/4 c water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I actually used fresh yeast, but this is the quantity to use)
1 tbsp honey
1 eggs plus 1 more for egg wash
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 c bread flour
1 1/2 c kamut flour
1 1/4 tsp salt

Proceed as you would with the Basic Challah. The dough reminded me a lot of Spelt Challah. Dense. Beyond belief. Like polenta. But it did rise quite lovely. I wasn't feel adventurous enough to tackle anything more than a coil with this heavy loaf. But I was still pleased, they were really quite lovely :) I snuck a taste with a small role, and I totally prefer this to both Whole Wheat and Spelt Challah!


Hag Sukkot Same'ah from our Bayit Sukkah to yours :)