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SHARAN/Indian Main Dishes/Indian Rice/Millet Rice
Millet Rice
– Recipe and photo by Shashi Rungta.
Millets are packed with a host of nutrients and are a perfect substitute for rice.
There are three simple methods of cooking millets, as follows:
Ingredients
1. Steaming
- 1 cup unpolished millet of choice (little millet (kutki), kodo millet, banyard
millet (sanwa), foxtail millet (kagni), etc.) - 2 cups water
2. Open Pan
- 1 cup unpolished millet of choice (little millet (kutki), kodo millet, banyard millet (sanwa), foxtail millet (kagni), etc.)
- 2½ cups water
3. Pressure Cooker
- 1 cup unpolished millet of choice (little millet (kutki), kodo millet, banyard millet (sanwa), foxtail millet (kagni), etc.)
- 2 cups water
Method
1. Steaming
Method
1. Soak the millets in double the quantity of water for an hour.
2. Steam the millets on medium flame for 7-10 minutes. You may use the same
water in which the millets were soaked.
3. Turn off the heat. Keep aside for 10-15 minutes.
4. Perfectly cooked and separated grains are ready.
2. Open Pan
Method
1. Soak the millets in double the quantity of water for an hour.
2. In a heavy bottomed stainless-steel pan, add millets along with its soaking water (add extra water if needed) and cook on low-medium heat for 10 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.
3. Turn off the heat and keep aside, covered, for about 10-15 minutes, to obtain perfectly cooked and separated grains.
3. Pressure Cooker
Method
1. Soak the millets in water for an hour.
2. Transfer to a stainless-steel pressure cooker (along its soaking water) and cook for 1 whistle over medium heat. Turn off the heat.
3. Once the pressure has released naturally, open the pressure cooker. Perfectly cooked millets are ready.
Note
It is a good practise to pre-rinse, pre-soak Millets for a minimum of 8 hours and then air-dry, mildly roast and store in an air-tight container, ready to be prepared as above or as needed.
Variation
You could make the millet rice more flavourful by adding some whole spices – like shahi jeera, cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon, star anise, etc or herbs such as mint, coriander, basil or dill leaves. Roast the whole spices until fragrant and add in the millets along with its soaking water and cook either using the open pan or pressure cooker method.
Serves 3-4
