Recently during my recent encounters in my grocery shopping I felt encouraged to buy millets. I researched online for recipes and came across a very important source of infomation.
Millet is one of the oldest foods, history goes behind 3000 years.Millets are the real god particle as it can fight the four challenges india is facing
1. Water shortage
2. Diabetes
3. Malnutrition
4. Encourage farmers livelihood from debt and drought
We use 4000 litres of water to grow one kg of rice while all millets grow without irrigation. This can turn out to be a tremendous national gain especially in the ensuing decades of climate crisis. In a future, where water and food crisis stares us in the face, millets can become the food of security.
Another advantage of growing millets for farmers is it is pest resistant so it is by default grown organic saving farmers from buying pesticides.
40% of indian population is heading towards diabetes. One of the main reasons for this is we are eating a single cereal diet. People are eating only rice or only wheat. It is very important to bring in a multigrain diet into our life.
It has become a recent trend to include oats in our diet.The top 5 producers of Oats is European Union, Russia, Canada, Australia and United States
It does not benefit India or Indian farmers. When we buy millets we really support our own farmers.Why should I buy something manufactured by farmers in EU and US when our own farmers produce equivalently nutritive food.A kg of millets is cheaper than a kg of oats. When nature has provided India with a grain that has equal benefit then why eat oats. And I have also found millets taste much better than oats and can be used to make a lot of indian recipes.
Millet and other whole grains are a rich source of magnesium, a mineral that acts as a co-factor for more than 300 enzymes, including enzymes involved in the body's use of glucose and insulin secretion
Millets are amazing in their nutrition content. Each of the millets is three to five times nutritionally superior to the widely promoted rice and wheat in terms of proteins, minerals and vitamins. Each of the millets is a storehouse of dozens of nutrients in large quantities. They include major and micro nutrients needed by the human body. Hence they can help people withstand malnutrition
Millets are alkaline in nature and hence beneficial for anti-aging
More info on millets
Varieties of millets
http://millets.wordpress.com/millets/
Saving India
http://cm.naturelabs.org/?p=552
12 Health Benefits
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/12-health-benefits-of-millet.html
Nutritional Benefits of Millets
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=53
Millet Vs Oats
http://suryaecolife.blogspot.in/2013/04/millets-vs-oats.html
To begin with I tried curd rice with the kodo millets it tasted so perfect every spoonfull would simply slide in with joy.
Ingredients
- 1 cup kodo millet (Hindi: Kodra; Tamil: Varagu; Telugu: Arikelu; Kannada: Harka)
- 2.5 cups water
- 3 cups milk
- 1 tbsp curd
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp chopped cashew nuts
- 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
- 2 tbsp grated carrot
- 1 tbsp chopped cashew nuts
- 1 sping curry leaves
- 2-3 chopped green chillies
- 1 tsp oil
- salt to taste
Wash the kodo millets properly and pressure cook the millet with 2.5 cups of water with 4 whistles on high flame and 5 mins in low flame.Once it cools take the cooked millet out and mix it with spatula in a large bowl,now add the milk and mix nice till millet and milk blend nicely.Then add the curd,carrot mix again.
To prepare the tempering heat oil in a small pan ,add mustard seeds,cashew nuts and fry in medium flame till mustard splutters then add green chilli,curry leaves and fry for 30 sec and add to curd millet porridge. Let it sit for 1-2 hours
Note:
1.If you can make the millet curd rice in the morning itself and serve it at lunch
time ,it will taste awesome as you made it fully with milk
2.If you have lack of time then in place of milk you can directly make it with curd
but have to serve immediately
3.Milltets are pest resistant hence they are organic by nature
In chennai millets are begun to be available across many stores however I have found them priced appropriately at murugan stores (43 rs/500 gms)
Location of Murugan store: On poonamalee high road after hot breads near anna nagar arch ...
