Millets can be incorporated in many ways in our diet. I have been using millets for the past 5–6 years. I have been using millet flour in making appams, idlis, neer dosa, cookies and muffins. Below is a compiled list of the millet recipe tried so far. This is an easy, tasty sweet that you can enjoy this festive season. This laddu uses no sugar and is made with jaggery and ghee. This is a perfect sweet for all age groups. You can use any millets of your choice. I have used proso millet flour, the recipe of making flour is shared here.
Proso millet has many healthy benefits, like the other millets. This has proved to boost cholesterol metabolism, improving liver and heart health by increasing high density lipo proteins. They also help in bone strengthening and improving digestion. All millets have one or the other benefits. These can be included in our diet in a number of ways. All loved this sweet healthy version of using millets. Do give this simple laddu recipe a try and enjoy.
Preparation time ~ 10 minutes
Cooking time ~ 10 minutes
Author ~ Julie
Serves ~ 12-14 laddus
Ingredients
millet flour 3/4 cup
split moong dal 1/2 cup
jaggery 2/3 cup
ghee 4 tbsp or 1/4 cup melted
raisins 2 tbsp
sliced almonds 2 tbsp
salt, a good pinch
cardamom powder 1 tsp
Watch on YouTube -
Method
Wash the split moong dal, rinse, drain the water. Transfer to a clean towel to dry moisture for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, add to a non-stick pan and dry roast the moong dal until golden brown (may take 6–7 minutes). Cool completely and powder smooth in a blender jar.
In another pan, melt the jaggery with 1/4 cup water. Switch off and strain the syrup to discard impurities. Keep aside.
In a non-stick pan, add ghee(2 tbsp). Fry the sliced almonds and raisins till golden brown. Drain from ghee and keep aside. To the same pan, add 2 tbsp ghee, and add the millet flour. Roast on low medium flame for 3–4 minutes or until fragrant. Then, add the moong dal flour and roast another 2–3 minutes until the ghee is well coated in the flour. Add the fried almonds and raisins. Add a pinch of salt & give a quick mix. Switch off flame. Add the jaggery syrup in the residual heat and mix in the residual heat. Add jaggery syrup as per taste buds, I added 3/4th of the 2/3 cup syrup.
Start making balls or laddus when the mix is warm and the heat is bearable to shape. Else, it may not hold shape when cold. Repeat making all balls till the mix is finished.
Store in airtight containers for 4–5 days at room temperature.
NOTES
* I melted 1/3 cup ghee but used only 1/4 cup or 4tbsp.
* I used 3/4th cup of the 2/3 cup jaggery syrup.
* If at anytime the balls are not getting shape, add the melted ghee or jaggery syrup.
* You can use any other millet flour to make these laddus.
Barnyard neer dosa is an instant healthy dosa that can be quickly prepared without any fermentation. This dosa is a healthy breakfast option to all those who would like to avoid rice. Though you get store brought millet flours in stores, but I have used homemade millet flour that I prepare at home. The recipe link for making millet flour is already shared here. Taste wise these millets neer dosa don't taste anything obvious but the colour of these neer dosa is off-white than white.
The only difference that I found in making these millets dosa is that it takes a little more time than usual neer dosa to cook. So wait patiently before you flip the dosa. Mangalorean neer dosa, the traditional one or millet neer dosa, I love them with a tangy chutney like tomato chutney, kunjulli chutney or mint chutney. How do you like to pair these crispy and light dosas ? You can even serve these with chicken sukka .Try these out and am sure you will love these.
Preparation time ~ 15 minutes
Cooking time ~ 10 minutes
Author ~ Julie
Serves ~ 4 neer dosa
Ingredients
barnyard flour 1/2 cup
cooked rice 3 tbsp
grated coconut 3 tbsp
salt to taste
water 1 cup
Method
Add the barnyard flour in a bowl. Add 1/2 cup water to this, mix well without lumps.
Take the cooked rice and grated coconut, add to a blender jar and add water. Grind till smooth and add to the barnyard batter. Combine well, add salt and get a batter without any lumps. The batter shouldn't be very watery, but thinner than dosa batter.
Heat a non-stick pan and when the pan is really hot. Pour a ladleful of batter and swirl the pan to even out the batter. Cook till the sides are crisp and starts to leave the pan(may take longer than usual neer dosa batter). Add few drops of gingelly oil.
Flip the other side and cook for another 45 seconds. Repeat making the other barnyard neer dosa. Serve withtomato chutneyor pudina chutney.
NOTES
* I have already posted the barnyard flour making from scratch, please refer the link.
* You can make this neer dosa using other millet flours too.
What do you generally make for breakfast? I usually make south indian favorite items like idli, dosa, upma, puttu, appam and idiyappam. But these days kids need variety in these items as well and so try and modify these items as much a possible without spoiling the actual flavors. Millets are the latest added entity in my pantry since three years now and so once in a week, I make millet based brekafast item too. The favorite among these millets is barnyard as there is no much change in color or taste when incorporated in recipes and so can be easily sneaked in.
I have already posted the barnyard idli recipe but that's a fermented version. This is an instant dosa making and comes out perfectly soft too. If at all you forget to soak the milet for grinding the previous day, you can always soak at night and grind in the morning to make the quick dosas. Tomatoes adds a nice color to the dosas and adds a mild tangy flavor which takes the similar taste as of the fermented batter. You can even make without adding tomatoes or can add a piece of pureed beetroot too. These dosas don't give the feel of an instant dosa as they are soaed for 6-7 hours and ground. Do give this a try and enjoy !!
Preparation time ~ 10 minutes
Cooking time ~ 10 minutes
Serves ~ 12 -14dosas
Author ~ Julie
Ingredients
barnyard millet(kavadapullu) 1.5 cups
urad dal / uzhunnu 1/4 cup
tomato/ thakkali 2 big or 3 small
red dry chilies / vattal mulakku 3-4
ginger/ inji one small piece
cumin seeds / jeerakam 1 tsp
salt to taste
ghee or oil to smear 2 tbsp
Method
Wash and soak the millet and urad dal separately in enough water overnight or 6-7 hours. In the morning, add water and grind the millet to a coarsely ground paste but almost ground and grind the urad dal to a smooth paste. Transfer this to a bowl and add the tomatoes, red dry chillies and ginger piece. Grind to a smooth paste.
Add the pureed paste to the ground batter. To the batter add cumin seeds and salt. Mix well and keep aside.
Heat an iron griddle and smear oil on top. To this pour ladleful of batter and spread as a thin circle. Wait till the sides are crisp and lightly browned. Brush oil or ghee on top and flip the other side and cook another 45 secs. Transfer to a plate and serve hot with coconut chutney / pottukadala chutney.
NOTES
* You can add a piece of pureed beetroot instead of tomato too.
* Adding cumin seeds imaprts a nice flavor, omit if you don't like the flavor.
* Add a very small piece ginger else the batter will be over powered with ginger.
Please check out this link here for more millet recipes.
Foxtail millet has all the good qualities of millets in general. These are also rich in Vit B12 which is essential for a healthy heart and nervous system. This is also a good source of calcium and protects bone health. It also regulates blood sugar, helps maintain a healthy weight. It also improves immunity as its packed with vitamins and minerals. However people diagnosed with hypothyroidism should not use foxtail millet frequently as it has goitrogen compounds. But these theories are not fully understood though and so there aren't much evidence to prove too. Millet flour is a simple recipe to make flour of any millet that you use. Soak the grain for 6 hours, drain and spread on a towel. Powder the flour in a blender, roast and store. I have already shared the recipe of making foxtail millet flour here in this link.I have been doing this for quite sometime, tried making puttu, dosas, pancakes and muffins.
Anyways coming back to today's recipe- Foxtail millet Muffins. These muffins are made with eggs but Idid try making them eggless too. Will share that recipe sometime soon. I have already shared the recipe of preparing almond meal too. I have also shared a simple muffin recipe with almond meal- Banana Almond Meal Muffins. Please check out the payasam made with thinai(foxtail) too- Foxtail Millet Payasam. These muffins are perfect for breakfast or for a filling after school snack for kids. They are soft, crumbly and delicious. I have used granulated brown sugar here in this recipe but you can modify using grated jaggery or granulated white sugar. If you wish to make the muffin more delicious, add butter instead of oil in the same measures. Almond meal along with foxtail millet flour gave a healthy muffin touch, do give this a try and lemme know the outcome too.
Pre heat (mode using both top and bottom rods) oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12 muffin tray with liners or smear oil and dust with flour. Keep ready.
Beat the eggs using powdered sugar until creamy and light. To this add the oil and vanilla essence.
Then add the sifted flour mix in batches, mix well. Add 1 or 2 tbsp milk as needed to get the consistency of cake batter. Add chocolate chips and finally give a quick mix.
Scoop out the mix in muffin cups or liners until 3/4 cup filled. I got 10 muffins with this mix.Tap the pan on counter top and place in oven and bake for 15 mins (I gave 7 minutes on bottom rod alone and gave both rods for the remaining time).
Cool on wire rack and enjoy with a cup of tea.
NOTES
* I used light brown sugar and powdered. you can use powdered jaggery or granulated sugar.
* You can increase the sugar to 1 cup of powdered. Use 3/4 cup granulated sugar and powdered.
* I powdered half cup sugar to get 3/4 powdered sugar.
* I have roasted the almonds and powdered to get almond meal, I have already shared the recipe of preparing almond meal .
Millets are small round ancient whole grain which were widely used by our grandparents. They are also used for bird feeds, live stock till date. Millets have gain importance these days due to its gluten-free nature and many people have stopped gluten, started on this healthy diet recipes. I have started using millet for the last 3–4 years. Before that, I was also a naive in millet recipes. These days I have tried making the traditional breakfast recipes like appam, puttu, idli with millet flours, and they have tasted good like the traditional ones too. My family too has accepted the millet recipes happily as there are no obvious taste changes. Millets are packed with protein, antioxidants and nutrients. They can be used to cook just like rice and use in place of rice too. They are a rich source of folate, potassium, calcium and other minerals. They are also rich in fibre, reduces the blood sugar spikes, lowers cholesterol. The downside of millets is that it has antinutrient like polyphenol and phytic acid, which may interfere with the absorption of minerals in our body. However, these antinutrients content can be lowered by soaking the millets overnight and then using or a person on balanced diet may not have much effect by antinutrients.Sprouting also reduces antinutrient content.
Foxtail millet has all the above said good qualities of millets in general. Apart from that these are also rich in Vit B12 which is essential for a healthy heart and nervous system. This is also a good source of calcium and protects bone health. It also regulates blood sugar, helps maintain a healthy weight. It also improves immunity as it's packed with vitamins and minerals. However, people diagnosed with hypothyroidism should not use foxtail millet frequently as it has goitrogen compounds. But these theories are not fully understood though and so there aren't much evidence to prove too.Anyway, coming back to today's recipe-Foxtail millet flour. This is a simple recipe to make flour of any millet that you use the same method. Soak the grain for 6 hours, drain and spread on a towel. Powder the flour in a blender, roast and store. I have been doing this for quite some time, tried making puttu, dosas, pancakes and muffins. Came out excellent, do give this a try if you would like to use homemade millet flours.
Why soaking millets is important for making flour or for using in any of the recipes like upma, or like cooked millets?
Millets has antinutrient like polyphenol and phytic acid, which may interfere with the absorption of minerals in our body.These antinutrients content can be lowered by soaking the millets overnight and then using, or a person on balanced diet may not have much effect by antinutrients.Soaking millets helps to avoid the gastric issues if any. Also helps to get rid of the anti nutrients. Sprouting also reduces antinutrient content.
Wash and soak the foxtail millet for 5–6 hours. Drain water completely and spread the millet on a clean kitchen towel or paper towels. Leave for 15- 30 mins.
Add this to the blender jar and powder until smooth. Transfer this to a fine powder sieve and sieve the mixture.
Repeat adding the residue to the blender jar and blend again until smooth.
Transfer the fried powder to a plate and spread evenly, leave to cool completely. Store in airtight containers before use.
NOTES
* I have used the huskless variety of foxtail in this recipe, but if you have the one with husk, remember to remove husk before making flour. The method is described here in this recipe.
* Remember to fry the powder very dry, else it may turn bad or get fungus.
* I generally haven't stored millet flour more than two weeks, as I make small batches and use. So if you are preparing large batches, remember to fry the powdered mix properly and store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.
* You can powder all other millets too in the same way. I have used proso millet in the video link.
* Soaking the millets can be avoided if you don't have stomach upset issues with millets. Soaking helps to avoid the gastric issues if any. Also helps to get rid of the antinutrients.
.png)
.png)
.png)
