Tolokno or Russian Sprouted Oat Porridge

Tolokno or sprouted oat porridge is an ancient Russian meal. Oats were compliant with the strictly observed fasting rules of the Orthodox church and sprouting them helped extract every bit of nutrient during the times of lenten diet. For example, throughout the entire year, all animal foods (including dairy) were prohibited every Wednesday and Friday, and that doesn’t include multitude of other, sometimes weeks’ long fasts that allowed very few foods. Records of soaking and sprouting go back to before the 12th century; oats, rye and barley were used most often.

To make tolokno, folks would place a burlap bag with unhulled oats into a river, and leave it for a day and a night, then place oat groats into a sieve in a warm place (usually next to a Russian oven, emitting slow even heat), to allow them to drain and swell. Then at the end of the day, when the heat from daily cooking was fading, oats were spread in the oven to dry and brown. And after that, the groats were ground with a pestle and mortar until the hulls separated, then sifted, ground and sifted until the oats turned into a fine powder. Because of the change that oats underwent, the flour could now quickly absorb water and thicken, which made it a perfect ‘fast food’ – just mix with liquid, and cook for only a few minutes.

Store bought tolokno has a very distinctive taste that’s hard to compare to anything else. It doesn’t taste like oats, it’s malty and cocoa-like. The color can vary from almost white to milk chocolate brown. I have not been able to replicate that exact taste, even though I tried hand grinding the oats by hand (yikes!) and toasting them until they were very dark. I settled on simply sprouting the oats and grinding them into flour. Finding sproutable oats was a real undertaking, and the only kind that would sprout I had to order online, from Blue Mountain Organics. I didn’t have luck with any of the accessible brands like Bob’s Red Mill or Whole Foods bulk oats. I must say that my toddlers don’t care for the taste of store-bought tolokno but they love my homemade one. It has a mild and very pleasant taste. I follow the same process with rye berries, and alternate sprouted oat with sprouted rye porridge. I personally think that tolokno makes a perfect baby food.

When I was a kid, my grandma and my mom would make tolokno often and I remember it being widely available, it was even served at my kindergarden; but during the past 30 years it has lost its popularity to a host of processed cereal products that flooded Russian store shelves. These days, you would have to look for it with a flash light, and find it mostly at pharmacies. It became a health food that doctors recommend to their patients. More the reason to include it in my life 🙂

Sprouting is not a solution for everything that ails you, and there are many arguments out there (some are even reasonable) that it doesn’t make significant difference when it comes to nutrition.  You can decide for yourself. I like sprouting because it was used in the country of my origins for countless generations, and believe that traditions that last that long and that are based on collective folk observation perpetuate because of their validity and effectiveness, otherwise they would naturally die down.

HOW TO SPROUT OAT GROATS

Ingredients
Raw oat groats, any amount

Instructions
Place oat groats in a mason jar so that they fill about 1/3 of the jar. Fill the oat jar with filtered water and rinse a couple of times to remove dust and debris, and leave at room temperature for 10-12 hours. Cover the jar with a sprouting lid.

Drain the water, place the jar on the side and shake to spread the oats evenly so that only half the lid is covered by the oats. This way, the oats will remain moist to facilitate sprouting, but will be exposed to air to prevent mold growth.
Every 10 hours or so, fill the jar again with water, rinse and set on its side again. If the oats are sproutable, you will only need to rinse one or two times because sprouting starts fairly quickly. If you see no sprouting after three rinses and notice starchy residue with rinses, it’s most likely that your oats are not able to sprout. It’s not you doing something wrong!
As soon I see tiny little tails, I move on to the next step.

Drain the oats in a fine sieve, or a flour sifter.
Spread on a cookie sheet or a pizza stone. Put into a 200ºF oven for 3-4 hours, until completely dry. If you want to get extra malty flavor, continue drying for another hour or two, until the oats brown.

Let cool; and grind oats with a coffee grinder, high speed blender or mill them.

HOW TO MAKE TOLOKNO or RUSSIAN SPROUTED OAT PORRIDGE

Ingredients
4 tablespoons sprouted oat flour (see how to sprout oats above; or buy pre-made flour like this)
2 cups water or milk
A pinch of salt

Instructions
If using store bought sprouted oat flour, toast it in a small skillet until it smells malty and fragrant. Let cool.
Whisk oat flour with water or milk until completely dissolved, with no lumps remaining. Add salt to taste.
Cook on low, whisking often, until it starts to thicken. If you like more liquid consistency, remove it from heat at this point; or if you prefer thicker porridge, cook it for couple more minutes.
Serve hot with butter, ghee or oils like flax seed or olive.

Print Recipe

3 from 1 vote

Tolokno or Russian Sprouted Oat Porridge

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, lunch

Cuisine: RUSSIAN

Author: Valeria - Beets 'n Bones blog

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons sprouted oat flour see how to sprout oats above; or get already made flour like this
• 2 cups water or milk
• A pinch of salt

Instructions

• If using store bought sprouted oat flour, toast it in a small skillet until it smells malty and fragrant. Let cool.
• Whisk oat flour with water or milk until completely dissolved, with no lumps remaining. Add salt to taste.
• Cook on low, whisking often, until it starts to thicken. If you like more liquid consistency, remove it from heat at this point; or if you prefer thicker porridge, cook it for couple more minutes.
• Serve hot with butter, ghee or oils like flax seed or olive.