Sustainable agriculture, food security and good health depend a diverse diet including coarse grains such as millets of many varieties.  Finger millet, also known as ragi or nachni is making a come-back in the urban areas.  Similarly other varieties such as foxtail millet and little millet, well known to our grandparents also deserve a place on our plate.

Peter writes from Appalagraharam with some recipes using delicious varieties of millet.  One is fried, the other is steamed.  Enjoy!

Been experimenting with millets whilst Swandana and Nirma are in Orissa visiting the clan…

Yummy Fried Foxtail Millet (కొర్ర). Photo by Peter Bakos.

Really yummy fried foxtail millet (కొర్ర )

The rice is dry fried till it almost reaches popping stage then a tablespoon or so of oil and teaspoon of salt per cup of rice is added and stirred. Then cold water, two and a half cups the quantity of rice is added and allowed to boil in a lidded vessel.

If you have an Ez-cooker you can just bring to the boil then allow to cook in the Ez-cooker for about half an hour … If cooked in a pressure cooker, two whistles is enough.

In a wok, garden-fresh spinach, beans, onions, garlic chives were sautéed with a shop-brought carrot, grated. The then millet rice was added and stirred in.

Eaten with a side- dish of home-made lemon pickle.

The rice came out really light & fluffy with a nutty flavor.

Little Millet (సామ బీయము)

Little Millet (సామ బీయము) with assorted vegetables. Photo by Peter Bakos.

This was an “as you’re walking out the door” kind of meal. Spent more time harvesting the veggies from the garden than we did cooking. Since the EZ Cooker vessel was in use, I used the pressure cooker for this one.

Assortment of spinach, radish leaves, onion & garlic chives, beans & tomato were coarsely chopped and lightly fried in the pressure cooker with fresh herbs and a little salt.

Then I added little millet and water – 2.5 times as much water as millet. Stirred and covered. Three whistles later it was ready. A quick bite , steaming hot then packed in the tiffen box with a couple of millet rotis… The perfect lunch for a village visit.

More on Millet:

Earth 360 – bringing millets back into mainstream diet and cropping patterns
Good for diabetes patients – from The Hindu, 4 Feb 2103
Millet Recipes
Ragi Porridge – not just for babies! (recipe and video)

More by Peter:  Tinkering Around
About EZ Cooker: Instructions | Presentation by Wilbur Sargunaraj, Supercall Solutions