Receta Recipes | Quick Foxtail Millet Pulao and Kodo Millet Upma
Whether it is a modern day Pancake a sandwich or a traditional chila, theplas, upma, parathas, or Idly...breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. You can be so creative with these breakfast recipes. But wait..on most of the week days, I can only dream of all these delicacies. When my day begins at 5.30 early morning and ends around 11 in night, cooking an elaborate meal is a far cry.
Sunday is the day when I can afford to do things differently. Come Sunday and you can even find a traditional Khamani with sev or a contemporary French toast with fruit compote and a fresh fruit & vegetable juice on our breakfast table.
Well, millet dominated our last Sunday menu at home. I wouldn’t even want to call this a recipe considering this is such a staple in Indian households.
Broken rice and dalia (broken wheat) is cooked in a lot of Indian homes in myriads of ways, almost everyday. With the easy availability of different kinds of millet it has become even more easier to bring in variety of foods at the dinner table.
These tiny indigenous millet varieties are easy on your stomach and takes very little time to cook. And the best part is that all the millet can be easily replaced with each other in any recipe.
- All the four varieties of millet are almost similar in size and the time they take to get cooked. The different varieties of millet are;
- Kodo millet also known as in kodra in Hindi varagu in Tamil
- Foxtail millet also known as kangni in Hindi and thinai in Tamil
- Little millet also known as kutki in Hindi and saamai in Tamil
- Barnyard millet also known as jhangora in Hindi and kuthiravaali in Tamil
- 1. Quick Foxtail millet Pulao
- Ingredients;
- (serve 2)
- 1 cup foxtail millet
- 1 cup chopped vegetables
- 1 large onion
- 1 tbsp tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp red chilly sauce
- 1 tsp. grated ginger
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- Water as required
- Salt to taste
- Spices;
- 2-3 cloves
- 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
Method; Peel and finely chop all the vegetables you are using in the recipe. I have used a carrot, capsicum and french beans.
Bring about 2 cups of plain water to a boil in a vessel.
Heat oil in a wok or kadai and splutter cumin and mustard seeds.
Add chopped onion, grated ginger in the wok and saute for 2-34 minutes on medium heat.
Add chopped carrot, beans and capsicum in the wok and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Add foxtail millet, salt, chilly sauce, tomato sauce and give it a good stir.
Pour hot water in the wok, cover with a lid and let it cook for 4-5 minutes on medium heat or until the millet is well cooked and soft to touch.
Garnish it with fresh coriander leaves and serve with plain yogurt or raita.
2. Kodo millet Upma
Ingredients;
(serve 2)
1 cup Kodo millet
1 large onion
2 green chillies
1 tsp. grated ginger
Salt to taste
Water as required
Few curry leaves
Spices;
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp. Bengal gram
1 tbsp. de-husked black gram
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
A pinch of asafoetida powder
Method; Finely chop the onion, green chillies and grate a small piece of ginger.
Bring about 2 cups of water to boil in a vessel.
Heat oil in a wok or kadai and splutter mustard seeds in it.
Add Bengal gram (channa daal) and de-husked black gram (urad daal) and saute for a few seconds.
Add chopped onion, green chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida powder, salt and grated ginger and saute for 2 minutes.
Add kodo millet in the wok, give a good stir and saute for 2 minute to let the grain get a coat of oil and spices.
Pour hot water in the wok, cover it with a lid and let it cook for 4-5 minutes or until the grains are soft and well cooked.
Sereve Kodo millet upma with any pickle, chutney or Sambhar.
Notes;
Shallots (small variety of South Indian onion) taste wonderful in these recipes.
Reduce the oil if you are on diet. A little extra oil in millet helps in avoiding the grains stick together and make it lumpy.
I have used the bottled ready made chilly sauce preserved in vinegar.