MILLETS ARE THE RIGHT GRAINS:
We have heard the old saying ”You are what you eat”. If you are taking the right balanced diet, you remain healthy always. But we have forgotten the old millet grains which our grandparents were taking in their food and this has given us more lifestyle diseases. So in this situation, we should focus on boosting our immunity and health. The right grains that we can add to our regular diet are the ”Millets” and boost our immunity.
Why Millets?
It contains a high amount of dietary fibre, essential amino and fatty acids, B-complex vitamins and Vitamin E. They are high in minerals, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium. These minerals help us as a shield and protect us from infections and diseases. They contain more fibre which lowers the risk of diabetes by releasing a lesser percentage of glucose over a long period of time.
So, making excuses for not including millets, will only keep us far away from better health. Millets can be taken by adults, children and Babies. The sooner you bring them in your regular diet, the faster you witness the positive changes in your health. It is the sole responsibility of parents to add millets so that children gradually accept these grains.
Of course, there is a lot of things to learn about millets and understand the right way to cook it. You will definitely find wonderful recipes out of millets in my blogs as well as in my youtube channel. I am a Certified Farm Advisor on Millets and promoting Millets from ”Farm to Plate”. You can surely mail me or comment on this blog if any query comes to your mind.
On the day of ”Janmashtami”, First of all, Wish a very Happy Janmashtami. Yesterday evening I thought to share a new recipe of Idli with Little Millet. Generally, it is consumed as rice and any recipe that demands staple rice can be prepared using Little Millet. It looks similar to Proso Millet after dehulling, but you can easily differentiate by its prominent spot and the size. Little Millet is the smallest of all minor millets.
Little Millet is reported to have 8.7 gm protein, 7.6 gm fibre, 9.3 mg iron, 1.7 gm minerals per 100 gm. It contains 13 times more iron than rice. We can make a lot of recipes using this Millet. I will keep you updating the wonderful recipes.
So, let us see the ingredients and method to make Little Millet Idli.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Little Millet
- 1/2 cup Urad Dal
- 1 tbsp Methi seeds
- 1 cup Water
- 1 tbsp Puha (flattened rice)
- Salt as per taste
- Little Millet, Urad Dal and Methi seeds are taken separately and soaked for 3 hours.
- Urad Dal is then ground in a wet grinder until it becomes a soft batter.
- Water is drained out from Little Millet and ground along with the methi seeds and puha till nice batter.
- All the batter is mixed together thoroughly and allowed to ferment overnight.
- After that little salt as per taste is added to the batter and idlis are steamed in idli Steamer.
- Idlis are cooked till they are soft texture and served hot with chutney.
Thumb Rules while Cooking Millets:
- Soak it before cooking in water for at least 2 to 3 hours. But soaking millets overnight is more helpful.
- To get the best taste of it, served it hot. If allowed to cool, they become drier than rice and wheat.
- Always store it in a cool and dry place. Sun-drying at regular interval will ensure more shelf life.
Please text me in the comment box, how it turned out with you.
(Tapas Chandra Roy, a Certified Farm Advisor on Millets and promoting Millets from ”Farm to Plate”).