Little Millet - Saamai Payasam | Paal Payasam

     Saamai Payasam a tasty,healthy payasam liked and relished by kids and adults.Saamai payasam can be made in no time with the available ingredients.If you want to know the benefits of Millet's refer my millet post.

Ragi Roti | How To Make Ragi Roti

       Ragi roti a nutritious and easy breakfast option.Ragi millet, i like the most  among others.Finger millet is called by keppai in Tamil,but many know it as only ragi.

Ammini Kozhukattai | Ragi Kozhukattai | Healthy Snack

     Ragi/Finger millet is one millet I usually include in our snack,breakfast or dinner. One day I wanted to prepare a quick and filling snack then I made this mini/mani/ammini kozhukattai. My better half didn't want to it as usual, so I  tempered the mini ragi kozhukattai and he really enjoyed it.
      I usually make ragi idiyappam when I am devoid of ideas as what to make for dinner/breakfast. I make ragi dosa and also ragi idli with ragi flour. Sometimes I make ragi roti. Remember I told you guys ragi is rich in calcium and is good for weight loss? So prepare yourself the salt version and your kids the sweet version.
Ammini kozhukattai is prepared with the leftover flour from making modak/poorna kozhukattai.

Millet Dosa | Millet Breakfast Recipes

Millet's are known for its health benefits.If you don't know what is millet make sure you read it before proceeding.
       Millet's can be consumed just like rice that said you can try a dosa with it.This millet dosa is very good for a healthy start of the day.If you are doing millet dosa for breakfast grind the batter the  day before and ferment it.
       I used samai/sama/little millet/chama for making this dosa.This Little millet dosa is very crisp and filling .You can try dosa with other Millet's too.I haven't used rice in this dosa because we normally eat rice every meal be it dosa,idly or for lunch .If you want to include rice add one cup, add 1/2 cup of urad Dal too and follow the same procedure.If you want the dosa to be soft you can add sabudana/javarisi while grinding.Sabudana has to be soaked along with little millet.

What Is Millet|Health Benefits Of Millets

    This post is going to be a informative post rather than recipe post .This new year i am trying to include some millets in our diet.I usually add ragi/finger millet regularly not any other millets.Before posting other millet recipes i want to give some introduction about the millets and its benefits for your knowledge.

What is Millet:
   

       Millets are fast growing grains(in cooking terms) otherwise its small seeded grasses which are grown in dry areas.Millets are referred as siruthanyam in tamil(its def the small grains available).In olden days rice is the costliest food compared to millets .Rice requires more time to grow and it requires much water than millets.While Millets can be grown in short as 60 days and it requires less water and much poorer soil.Poor people can't afford rice and can eat only millets.Now a days with awarness of health benefits of millets its a costliest grain compared to rice and wheat.Here in US a 9 kg of rice cost 18 dollars while 700 grams of millets cost 3-4 dollars.see How Millets got its place in the modern world ?

Countries Millets are grown:
     India is one of the largest producers of Millet varieties.Bajra or pearl millet is the grain that is grown widely in India.Nigeria seconds India in millet production.

Why eat Millets:
    I know what is a millet and its history why should i eat it ?
 Millets are considered to be miracle grain which is non-glutinous.Here is US many people are allergic to glutenous grains like wheat.Millets are completely non-glutinous and easily digestible food which are non-allergenic too.Millets are generally organic.

Health Benefits of Millets:
    Millets releases lesser percentage of glucose for longer period of time, the body can produce its own glucose by that time so its considered to be best food for diabetic people.Millets are high in Iron,calcium(finger millet has highest calcium content),fibre,phosphorous,manganese,vitamin B6,folate.People say it cures cancer but its not proven yet.

How to consume or cook Millets:
       Millets are very good for health ?but how can i consume it?You can replace rice based recipe with Millet's- like dosa,idly,upma,pongal,roti,adai,porridge etc.Millets can be consumed hulled or non-hulled.If you buy in organic shops it will mostly be hulled type.Millets will be cooked early than rice and it requires lesser water to cook compared to rice.Usually a cup of millet when needed fluffy requires 2 cups of water when cooked in an open pan.In pressure cooker, may be with less water(haven't done that before).

Beware of Large consumption of Millets
          Being read all of the benefits of eating Millet's can i eat them daily ?No obviously not.Everything in moderation in considered to be good ,right ?because huge eating of Millet's increases the gaitrogen level and may cause serious goiter which is a thyroid based issue.So be aware and eat wisely.

Where can i buy Millets:
      In US:
          Indian stores,amazon,whole foods and some online shops.
      In India:
           Most organic shops carry Millet's.Some particular vendors sell online too.

Millet names in various Indian languages for your reference:

           English         Tamil          Malayalam          Kannada      Telugu        Hindi

1. Finger Millet      Kepai                Muuthari               Ragi               Ragulu            Madua
2. Foxtail Millet    Thinai                  Thina                    Navane           Korra             Kangni
3. Kodo Millet       Varagu             Koovaragu              Harka             Arikelu           Kodra
4. Little Millet       Samai                 Chama                    Samee             Sama               Mutki
5. Barnyard Millet Kuthiraivali  Kavadapullu            Oodalu           Odalu              Jhogora
6. Sorghum           Makka Cholam   Cholam                   Jola                Jonna               Juwar
7. Pearl Millet       Kambu               Chambu                   Sajje             Sazzalu              Bajra

Millet Recipes:

• Ragi dosa/Kepa Dosai
• Bajra roti/Kambu Roti
• Ragi Idly/Kepai Idli
• Ragi Idiyappam/Kepa Idiyappam
• Saamai Dosa/Little Millet dosa

Will update this section whenever i add a millet recipe like ragi puttu,ragi mudde,ragi kool,ragi roti,sammai dosa etc.

Ragi Idli|Ragi Flour Recipe

There is a lot to talk about this ragi idli.

1. Its very healthy one .I hear you!!! you are saying,"i know ".But its more than what do you think .This ragi idli is made with ragi flour and urad dal ,there is no rice.
2. No need to clean,soak and grind ragi.You can simply use ragi flour.
3. You can grind the urad dal with a Indian mixer.Even blender works.

       You can make 14 ragi idlies with the mentioned quantity.This is not a instant idli ,you have to ferment the batter .If you want a instant one you can follow the same procedure like making  rava idli.Add curd and rava to ragi and make idlies out of it.But what ever method you do.Don't forget to eat them hot.

Healthy Cake/Avacado Cake

     I wanted to bake healthy cakes for my kid .I know avacado is healthy and i already included them in one of my cake recipe .So i just can't buy cakes from outside.
      For this month Shhh ..Secret challenge sonali pathak gave me avocado and blueberry as the secret ingredient.I was little skeptical about the ingredients first ,then i decided to make a cake with them.The cake was just awesome .
       I added milk and water to this cake .So better place the cake in refrigerator and microwave for 20-30 seconds before serving,if you eating it other day . Its healthy to the core .It was gooey because of the addition of ragi flour .It was soft to the core because of the addition of avocado  .
    My little one loved it a lot .Even my husband was surprised it is made of ragi and avocado .You can add more oil instead of milk to extend its shelf life.

Some other cake recipes

1. Strawberry cake 
2. Cheerios Cupcake
3. Christmas cake

Preparation time:20 min
Cooking time :1 hour -1 1/2 hours
Yields :10 -12 cupcakes

BajraRoti/KambuRoti/HealthyDinnerIdeas

   Pearl millet is bajras english name .Its also called kambu (in tamil),Bajra(in hindi),sajje (in kannada) ,kambam (in malayalam),Sajjalu (in telugu).One good news is- india is the largest producer of this crop ,so we can be happy that we are eating our home grown food .    

       I got 2 packets of bajra flour without knowing what to make with it ,but i know one thing its a whole grain .One fine day i just got this recipe from uma aunty (whom i met in facebook.during the early days she is the one encouraging me in my facebook fanpage very often) and made it ,it was a bit  bitter when i had my first mouth and my huss too felt the same .I made this roti more than 4 times now and we love it a lot ,my little girl too loves her bajra roti much .
        It is essential to add some grains to your diet on a daily basis (according to my opinion).These are the reasons that i say we need to add more grains to our diet.

1. Food now a days are more processed 
2. They get adulterated (like adding stones to your wheat ,adding pesticides to the crops to yield more etc) .

 Do you think that bajra,millet,couscous are the grains .Wheat is also a grain ,which i guess everybody got in their house ?So eat something healthy not a processed food ,will you ?
     

If you are looking for some side dish for this roti check

Malai kofta
Palak dal
Paneer butter Masala
Rajma gravy
Poori bhaji(potato masala for poori)
Channa in peanut curry
Mushroom gravy
Chicken Gravy

Yields :8 small rotis
Preparation time:5 min+(half an hour rest time)
Cooking time:10-15 min

Ragi Idiyappam-Step By Step Pics

     Ragi Idiyappam /Ragi semiya/Ragi sevai is a healthy breakfast. Adding a decent amount of  ragi to our diets would do wonders for our health and nutrition. I try to include ragi in many forms like dosa,idiyappam etc.
     I do Poha upma,Lemon Semolinabath,Rava kichadi for breakfast .This recipe is with store bought ragi idiyappam . Its a tasty and simple dish for a weekday breakfast or for a simple dinner. Your breakfast or dinner will be ready in under 15 minutes.

Preparation time:15 min(soaking and steaming)
Cooking time:5 minutes
Serves:2