Little Millet

  

                                                         Little Millet

 Little millet is rich in cholesterol, when consumed increases good cholesterol in the body, suitable for growing kids. Little millet strengthens the body. It’s complex carbohydrates digest slowly which is very helpful for diabetic patients.

Little millet is also called as king of cereals because of its rich nutritional and medicinal value. It contains high phosporous. It especially good for people who has low body mass. Few recipes which can be prepared using little millet are Samai Dosai, Samai idli, Samai kichadi, Samai pongal, Samai rice.

SAmai Dosai   

Samai is a popular and healthy millet rich in nutrients such as iron, fiber, minerals and calcium. This dosa made with this nutritious millet is not only healthy but also equally tasty as the regular version.

Ingredients:
Samai (Little Millet) Rice – 1 cup
Urad Dal – 2 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp
Poha (Aval / Beaten Rice) – 2 tsp
Salt as per taste
Oil as required

Method:
1. Soak together the samai rice, urad dal, poha and fenugreek seeds for 2 to 3 hours.
2. Then grind them to a smooth batter.
3. Keep aside for 8 hours for the batter to ferment.
4. Add salt and mix well.
5. Heat a non-stick tawa over medium flame.
6. Pour a ladleful of batter and spread evenly.
7. Cook until golden brown on both sides and remove.
8. Serve with chutney and sambar of choice.

Samai Idly

Ingredients:

Serves 4 to 5 people

• 2 cups – Samai arisi / little millet
• 1/2 cup – Whole black gram without skin / ulunthu
• 1 handful – Flattened rice / poha / aval
• 1/8 tsp – Fenugreek seeds / vendhayam / methi seeds
• Salt to taste
• Ice water to grind

Preparation method:

Making of batter:

1. Wash and soak samai arisi / little millet for 6 hours or over night. Remove stones if any before grinding. Because mine had lot of stones, so i cleaned it 3 to 4 times before grinding.
2. Same way, wash and soak black gram /ulunthu along with fenugreek seeds and aval each separately with clean water for 1 to 2 hours or even overnight.
3. Take a mixer grinder or grinder, transfer soaked black gram / ulunthu and grind it till smooth and fine paste. Add ice water little at a time while grinding. Transfer ulunthu batter to a big vessel.
4. Now grind samai / little millet along with aval / flattened rice by adding water little at a time to a slightly coarse paste. Consistency of samai batter should not be too grainy nor fine paste.
5. Now mix ulunthu batter and samai batter together along with required salt, mix well. Container should have enough room for the batter to ferment. Consistency of batter should not be too thick or too thin. Ferment the batter for overnight or at least 9 to10 hrs or until fermented.
6. Mix the fermented batter once (don’t try to stir/mix too much). Now it is ready for making idly. If you are not going to use it immediately, then refrigerate the batter.

Making of samai idli:

1. Heat enough water in the idly pot, grease the idly platter with little oil or ghee (for kids) and then take a scoop of batter and fill in the idly platter. Once you see steam from the idly pot, place the idly platter and close it with a lid.
2. Steam for 9 to 10 mins. Using fork or toothpick you can check whether it is done or not. If it is done, then remove platter from the pot . Either allow them to cool for 5mins or you can turn over the idly platter and show it in the cold running water.
3. Remove idly from the platter and transfer it to a hot pack. Samai idly is ready and now serve with sambar, chutney and idly podi.

SAMAI KHICHDI
Preparation time 20 mins | Cooking time 20 mins | Serves 4

Ingredients

• Samai - 1 cup
• Moong dal - 1/2 cup
• Water - 4 cups
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 2
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Chopped vegetables - 1 cup
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp or 1/2 lime
• Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste

To Temper

• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal - 1/4 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsps
• Green chilli - 2
• Curry leaves - few
• Hing - a pinch

Samai/ Little millet pongal recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Breakfast
Prep Time: 5 mins    |  Cook time: 20 mins    |  Serves: 2

Ingredients

Samai / Little millet - 1/2 cup

---

Moong dal / Payatham paruppu - 2 tblsp

---

Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, crushed

---

Turmeric - 1/8 tsp

---

Ghee - As needed

---

To temper

Ghee - 2 tsp

---

Pepper (Black whole pepper) - 1 tsp

---

Jeera - 3/4 tsp

---

Green chilli - 1

---

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

---

Asafoetida/ Hing - A pinch

---

Method

1. Heat a small pressure cooker with ghee, first pop pepper, add jeera the other ingredients together (green chilli slit) and give a stir. Add ginger, moong dal and fry for a minute. Wash samai, add it into the cooker. Mix well.

2. Add 2 cups water, salt and mix well. Bring to boil and close the cooker, give 4 whistles in medium flame. Once done, let the pressure release by itself. Open and mash well.

Notes

• For 1/2 cup samai, 2 cups water is perfect, so do not hesitate to add.
• If its too dry, mix 1/8 cup hot water and mix.

Recipe for Little Millet Rice

Preparation time : 5 minutes
Cooking time : 20 minutes
Serves - 3-4

Ingredients

• Little millet (Samai) - 1 cup
• Water - 3 cups

Method

1. Wash the millets in running water. I take the millet in a big strainer and show it under tap water.
2. Take the exact measure of water in a pot and bring to boil. Most millet usually requires water in the ratio 1:3.
3. When the water starts to boil, add 1/4 tsp of salt and the washed samai.
4. After it boils again, cover with a lid and reduce the flame to low.
5. Cook for 10-15 minutes till all the liquid is absorbed by the samai. Little millet cooks really fast.
6. Switch off and let it rest for another 10 minutes. The steam will complete the cooking process. Fluff up with a fork to separate the grains and serve.

Cooking Little Millet Rice (Samai Sadam) in Pressure Cooker Method

1. Take 1 cup samai (little millet), required salt and 2.5 cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles.
2. Let the pressure go down by itself.

Serving Little Millet Rice

• You can serve samai sadam with any curry and side dish. I love to have it with sambhar or kaara kuzhambu or meen kuzhambu and some vegetable side dish. It tastes so good.
• You can also use this to make upma, kitchadi or any variety rice.