Brown Rice, Chia and Sesame Seed Crackers

1. Place the rice in a small bowl with 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) of water and the whey. Leave to soak at room temperature for 6 hours or overnight.
2. Rinse the rice and drain well. Pat dry with a tea towel, then place in a small saucepan with 125 ml (1/2 cup) of water. Cover and bring to the boil over medium heat. As soon as it comes to the boil, reduce the heat to as low as possible and cook for 40–45 minutes. Check if there is any water left by tipping the pot on an angle about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time. If so, continue to cook until there is no water left. When it is ready, small steam holes should appear on the surface. Remove from the heat, keep covered and leave until cool. You should have 125 g (²/³ cup) of cooked rice.
3. Add the rice to a food processor and process for a few seconds until it is a thick, but chunky pudding consistency. Add 125 ml (1/2 cup) of water and the remaining ingredients, except for the sesame seeds and the extra brown rice flour. Process until it comes together.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line two baking trays with baking paper — you will need to bake these in batches.
5. Place the extra brown rice flour and the sesame seeds onto a work surface. Place the dough on this and knead lightly until the flour and seeds are all incorporated. The dough should become noticeably less sticky as you gently knead it.
6. Separate into two balls, cover with a tea towel (not plastic wrap, which won’t let it breathe) and leave to sit for 10 minutes — this is an important step for this cracker as it dries the dough out a little and makes it easy to roll.
7. Working with one ball of dough at a time, roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper into a rough rectangle about 32 cm x 26 cm and about 2 mm thick — you should not need extra flour. If you find the dough sticking, it is too moist, so leave it to dry a little longer. As the pastry becomes bigger, it will stick to the paper. Lift the paper off and replace the paper. Gently turn the whole thing over (paper and all) and then repeat with the paper underneath; if you don’t do this, the pastry will just stick to the paper and won’t get any bigger.
8. Cut the dough lengthways into thirds so you have three strips about 32 cm x 9 cm. Cut each strip into long triangles, measuring about 4 cm at the base — you should get about 32 from each ball of dough. Use a palette knife to move the triangles to the trays. Prick each cracker five to six times with the tines of a fork.
9. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden and dry. Remove from the oven and cool on the trays for 10 minutes, then move them to a wire rack. Repeat for the remaining dough.
10. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place for up to 2 weeks.

Baking Notes:

• Take care to use natural unrefined sesame oil. It is widely available, a lovely golden colour and lightly scented with sesame. It is not the roasted (darkly coloured) sesame oil.

• These are dense crackers and need to be cooked well. If after 20 minutes the centres are still damp, continue baking until they are no longer damp, rather than increasing the oven temperature.

Flavour Variations:

Brown rice, chia and FENNEL crackers - replace the sesame oil with 60 ml (2 fl oz/1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil, and replace the sesame seeds with 1½ tablespoons fennel seeds.

Brown rice, chia and ROSEMARY crackers - replace the sesame oil with 60 ml (2 fl oz/1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil, and replace the sesame seeds with 2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary (leaf removed from the woody stalk). Sprinkle with good-quality Celtic sea salt before baking.

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