Paarambariya Cooking Dishes: Pearl Millet Recipies

Kambu Adai

Kambu (Pearl Millet) flour – 2 cups
Drumstick leaves
Chopped Onion – 1
Water to make dough
Salt to taste
Oil
Mix the flour, leaves, onion, salt and water to form a stiff dough. Pat out the adais directly onto the tava with your hand. These adais are much thicker than wheat rotis. Let the side on the tava cook well before you flip it. Cook well on the other side too. Serve with chutney.

Savory Millet Puttu

Any millet flour (saamai, thinai, cholam, ragi, kambu) – 1.5 cups

Grated Coconut – 1/2 – 3/4 cup

Warm water – just enough to mix the flour into a powdery consistency

Carrots/Capsicum/Beans/Onions/Any other vegetables – Quantity according to taste

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Red/Green Chillies – to taste

Salt – to taste

Warm water. Mix the water slowly with the millet flour (add a little bit of salt), kneading the flour gently. Add only so much water so that the flour can be held together into into a small ball, but with some pressure will crumple into a powdery form.

Use a puttu maker and put layers of the millet dough and coconut. Steam for 4-5 mins. Take out the cooked puttu and steam the next batch. Do this till the millet flour is over.

In a skillet heat oil, add mustard seeds, let them splutter, add curry leaves, onions, red/green chillies, according to taste. Add the other vegetables and saute till cooked. Add salt as desired. Turn off the stove. Add the puttu to this vegetable mixture and mix well, until everything is blended well. Add coriander leaves to garnish. You can also add lemon or peanut powder as garnish.

Enjoy!

Bajra Sprouts

Bajra grains
Soak the bajra grains overnight. Tie them in a cheese cloth for a day or as long as you want the sprouts to mature. You can eat them raw or leave them in boiling water for a minute or two and then eat.

Bajra Roti

2 cups of bajra floor
2 cups of water
1. Take 2 cups of water and bring it to boil. The moment the water starts to simmer pour the the 2 cups of Bajra in the boiling water.
2. Adjust the stove to “sim” and do not mix the Bajra with the water. Just leave it like that.

Add Bajra flour to hot water

3. Now After 2 minutes turn off your gas and get then mix the floor thoroughly. (If you feel you need to add some more Bajra floor you can add it. But if you want to add more water then you need add hot water.)

Mixing the flour and water

4. Now allow the dough to cool down (10 minutes)
5. Then roll them into small balls
6. When rolling them out into circular shapes puff/dust them with try Bajra floor
7. Now place it on the hot pan.

Bajra roti getting made

8. Use a cloth to press it on all sides and then keep changing the sides of the chapati. (You can use your hand, but cloth is a better option)
9. Optionally you can also add/spread some oil on the chapti to get the Paratha effect.

Broken Bajra Rice

Bajra rice can be made from Bajra rava, ie, broken Bajra.
Broken Bajra – 1 cup
Water – 2 cups
Pressure cook the broken Bajra just like you cook paddy rice. It makes a very delicious rice.

Bajra porridge – Unfermented Kambu Koozh

Bajra rava / Broken Bajra- 1 cup
Water – 5 cups
Chopped Carrots and Beans
Ajwain – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Bring the water to boil. Add salt, ajwain, vegetables and bajra rava. Cook on an open flame till you can see the bajra becoming soft and the water turning starchy. After the first time, you will know whether you like the porridge with more or less water. Serve hot with whole daal sundal.