Kambu Aval Upma / Pearl Millet Flakes Upma / Bajra Flakes Upma

A healthy twist to the traditional South Indian breakfast recipe Aval Upma using Kambu / Bajra Flakes instead of Rice. 

The taste was good ; it goes well with coconut chutney / Sugar.😃

Also check my Kambu / Pearl Millet recipes which I have posted earlier:

Kambu(கம்பு தோசை) / Bajra Dosa / Pearl Millet Dosa
Kambu Sadam (Pearl Millet Rice) / Kambu Koozh (Pearl Millet Porridge)

PREP TIME

15  mins

COOK TIME

5  mins

TOTAL TIME 

20 mins

                                                                                                                                                   

Recipe for  Kambu Aval Upma / Bajra Flakes Upma

Recipe type: Tiffin item / breakfast recipes

Cuisine: Indian

Serves - 2 to 3(approximately)

Ingredients:

Kambu / Bajra flakes - 2 cups
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Green chillies - 3 to 4 (slitted)
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Coriander Leaves - for garnish
Lemon juice - to taste
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp(optional)
Salt – to taste

For seasoning:
Mustard Seeds - ¾ tsp
Channa dhall - 1 tsp
Urad Daal - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - few
Oil - 1 to 2 tbsp

Directions:

Wash the Bajra flakes to remove impurities and drain completely.  Keep aside for  5 minutes.

Steam it in a idli plate or steamer for 5 minutes or till it is becomes soft.

Heat oil in a kadai; season it with mustard seeds; once it crackles add urad dhal, channa dhal and curry leaves.

Once the dhal becomes golden brown, grated ginger, green chillies and onion.  Saute well till the onion becomes translucent.

Add cooked Bajra flakes  and salt.  Mix it gently and cook till the rice flakes heated evenly (it will take just 2 to 3 minutes only)

At last add grated coconut, chopped coriander leaves, lemon juice.  Give it a mix and serve hot!

Samai Thayir Sadam / Little Millet Curd Rice

Curd rice / Thayir Sadam is a comforting and refreshing food during this hot summer; also it a favourite food for most of the south Indians! 

To make it healthy, I have used samai(in Tamil) / Little millet instead of rice.  No one in my family found that I have made curd rice with millet instead of rice; best way to incorporate millets in our diet.

Check my other millet recipes too.  Try to include in your diet for a healthy living. 

Samai / little millet is gluten free, easily digestible and nutritious grain which is high in fibre and iron. It is suitable for all ages. It has high anti oxidant property and also helpful in reducing cholesterol and blood Sugar. 

It is known by Same in Kannada, Samai in Tamil, Kutki in Hindi, Sama in Telugu, Chama in Malayalam and Little Millet in English.

PREP TIME

15 min

COOK TIME

10 mins

TOTAL TIME 

25 mins

                                                                                                                                                   

Recipe for Samai Thayir Sadam / Little Millet Curd Rice
Recipe type: Main Course

Cuisine: South India

Serves: 2 to 3 (approximately)

Ingredients:

Samai / Little millet - ½  cup 

Water to cook samai - 2 cups
Curd / Plain yogurt – 1 cup (here I have used low fat curd / yoghurt)
Milk - ½ cup (low fat milk)
Asafoetida powder – a pinch
Salt, as per taste
Coriander leaves – 1- 2 tsp (finely chopped)

Carrots - 1 to 2 tbsp(grated)

Pomegranate seeds - 1 to 2 tbsp
For seasoning:
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dhal - ½ tsp
Bengal gram dhal -½ tsp
Green chilly - 1 (finely chopped)
Ginger - 1 small piece (finely chopped or grated)
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 1 to 2 tsp

How to make Millet flour at home / How to make Varagu (Kodo Millet) flour at home

Koda Millet / Varagu is one of our traditional millet variety particularly of south India, though not much used nowadays probably as we forgot its value and health benefits it comes with.

We reside abroad and we don't easily get millets here though it's available nowadays in some Indian stores.  But I haven't yet found millet flour here; so I thought of preparing it on my own at home.

I remembered my mom's method for preparing rice flour at home and applied the same for millet flour as well! I am very much satisfied about the outcome.

You can use this flour for making Idiyappam, murukku etc.. Soon I will try to post some recipes using millet flour.

I hope this post is useful for you all; try and let me know your feedback!

Ingredients:

Varagu / Any millet (thinai, samai, cholam) - 2 cups

Thinai Idiyappam / Millet Idiyappam / Foxtail Millet String Hoppers / திணை இடியாப்பம்

When I received a packet of foxtail millet flour / Thinai mavu from my mom; I planned to try something healthy ,easy and especially tasty.  I found this recipe from Indian kitchen; made Thinai Idiyappam with slight changes in Ingredients according my preference. It came out very tasty and soft.

I have  added rice flour along with thinai flour to give softness to this dish.  With the left over thinai idiyappam I made tomato egg sevai for dinner and my kids just love it. 

Try to include millets in your daily routine for a healthy living.

Serving suggestions:
For Vegetarians:
Mixed Vegetable Stew / Vegetable Stew - Kerala Style, Potato Kurma, Coconut Chutney ( with Red Chilli and Garlic)
Non - Vegetarians:
Mutton kulambu, Chicken Kulambu, Fish Moilee

PREP TIME

15min

COOK TIME

10 mins

TOTAL TIME 

35 mins

                                                                                                                                                         

Recipe for Thinai Idiyappam
Recipe type: Tiffin item 

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 3 to 4 approximately

Ingredients:

Thinai flour - 1 cup ( I used to store bought)
Home made / store bought Idiyappam flour - ½ cup
Water - 1 ½ (amount of water will vary according to the quality of flour)
Salt - to taste
Oil - for greasing
(If you are using plain rice flour, roast it slightly before using it for preparing Idiyappam)

Mixed Millets Karapaniyaram / Millets Karapaniyaram / Siru Dhaniya Karapaniyaram

Milxed Millets Karapaniyaram / Siru Dhaniya Karapaniyaram is a tasty and spongy South Indian breakfast / snack variety.  Usually spicy paniyaram is prepared using rice and urad dhal mixture; instead I have tried using  four types of millets Samai - Little millet, Thinai - Foxtail millet, Kuthiraivali - Barnyard millet, Varagu - Kodo millet, Urad dhal with some seasonings to prepare this recipe.

The outcome was good;  try this and include in your daily routine for a healthy living!

I started to include millets in many of my recipes, especially breakfast (eg: Idly, dosa, pongal, paniyaram, etc.), avoiding or limiting the rice quantity after knowing about the health benefits of millets.

Thanks to my friend Lakshmi Krishnamoorthy from whom I learnt this.  Do check my other millet recipes!

Ingredients:

Millets(Samai, varagu, thinai, Kuthiraivali) - 2 cups (½  cup each)

Urad dhal - ½ cup

Fenugreek seeds - 1 or 2 tsp

Salt - as required

For seasoning:

Mustard seeds -1 tsp
Urad dal - ½ tsp
Onion - 1 or 2(finely chopped)
Carrot - 1 small ( grated)
Green chilli -1 or 2 finely chopped
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Salt to taste
Oil - to cook ( ½ tsp for each hole )

Varagu Idli /Dosa (Kodo Millet Idli)

Here is a healthy twist to our South Indian special breakfast item Idli! 

In this recipe I have included varagu / kodomillet along with rice and urad dhal to increase the health benefits and nutritive value.

The outcome was so good that the Idli's were very soft and tasty. Try this and include in your daily routine for a healthy living!

To get more information about Varagu / Kodomillet; Do check my Varagu Ven Pongal / Kodo Millet Pongal recipe.  

Ingredients:

Varagu  - 2 cups
Idli Rice – 1 cup
Urad dhal – 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste

Thinai Sakkarai Pongal ( திணை சர்க்கரை பொங்கல் ) / Foxtail Millet Sweet Pongal

A healthy variation to South Indian special Sweet pongal using Thinai / Foxtail Millet instead of rice.

Also check my Thinai / Foxtail Millet recipes which I have posted earlier:

Thinai Dosai / Foxtail Millet Dosa
Thinai Payasam / Foxtail Millet Kheer / திணை பாயசம்

Thinai Adai / Thinai Paruppu Adai / Thinai Masala Adai

Ingredients:

Thinai / Foxtail millet – 1 cup
Moong dhal – ¼ cup
Jaggery – 1 ¼ cup
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Water – 4 cups
Salt - a pinch
Ghee- 2 to 3 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 10
Raisins - 1 to 2 tsp

Thinai Adai / Thinai Paruppu Adai / Thinai Masala Adai / Adai Dosa

A healthy twist to the traditional South Indian breakfast recipe Adai / Adai Dosa using Thinai / Fox millet instead of Rice.

The taste was yummy; no one recognised  that I have included a new ingredient!

Also check my Thinai / Foxtail Millet recipes which I have posted earlier:

Thinai Dosai / Foxtail Millet Dosa

Thinai Payasam / Foxtail Millet Kheer / திணை பாயசம்

Ingredients:

Thinai / Foxtail Millet - 1 cup
Toor dhal (thuvaram paruppu) – ½ cup
Bengal gram/channa dal/ kadalai paruppu - ½ cup
Moong dhal / Pasi paruppu - ¼ cup
Urad dal / Ulunthu - ¼ cup
Asafoetida / Perungayam - a pinch
Salt - as required
Ginger - 1 " piece
Garlic - 8 to 10 flakes
Red chillies - 4 to 5
Onion - 1 (big)
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander leaves ( finely chopped) - 1 to 2 tbsp

Thinai Dosai / Foxtail Millet Dosa

My second trial using thinai / foxtail millet is this Thinai Dosa. The previous one is of Thinai payasam. Dosa came out very crispy and tasty too.

Try it out to include this healthy millet in your daily routine for a healthy living!

Ingredients:

Thinai / Foxtail millet - 1½ cup

Idli Rice - ½ cup

Urad dhal - ½ cup 

Fenugreek seeds - ½ tsp 

Salt – to taste

Varagu Ven Pongal / Kodo Millet Pongal / Siru Thaniya Ven Pongal

Varagu arisi (Kodo Millet) is a easily digestible, gluten free and also a highly nutritious millet.

Kodo millet is also known for its high fibre content (9 grams fiber per 100 g of kodo millet while 0.2 g of fiber is in 100 grams of rice), thus helps to control blood sugar levels.

It is known by Koden / Harka in Kannada, Koovaragu in Malayalam, Kodra in Hindi, Arikelu in Telugu and kodo millet in English .

Pongal is usually made of rice and moong dhal; here is a twist using varagu arisi instead of rice.

Vargu pongal pongal taste similar to  rice pongal only ; so you can easily include this millet in place of rice in many recipes. Every body in my family liked this yummy and healthy pongal!

Thinai Payasam / Foxtail Millet Kheer / திணை பாயசம்

Thanks to all for supporting and motivating me over the past two years!!

Here is a special, healthy recipe to celebrate this occasion!!

Thinai (Foxtail) is one of those forgotten grains that were part of ancient Tamil cuisine.

Thinai is rich in fiber; thus helps to control blood sugar levels. It also helps in reducing bad Cholestrol (LDL/VLDL) and increase the good Cholestrol (HDL).

This small "grain" (Siru Dhanyam) variety is easy digestible, gluten-free and packed with vitamins and minerals.

Having started to appreciate the benefits of this wonder grain, I want to share some recipes to include this in our daily diet.

My first trial is making payasam using thinai; the outcome was successful with everyone in my family loving it.

It is known as navane in Kannada, kangni in Hindi, korra in Telugu, thina in Malayalam and foxtail millet in English.

Ingredients:

Thinai / Foxtail millet - ½ cup
Jaggery - ¾ to 1 cup
Full cream milk - 2 cup
Water - 1½ cup
Cardamom - 1 tsp
Raisins - 10 pieces
Cashew nut - 10 to 15 pieces (broken)
Ghee - 2 to 3 tsp

Ragi Roti / Ragi Rotti / Spicy Ragi Roti / Finger Millet Roti - Diabetic Friendly Recipe

Ragi roti / Rotti is a very popular, nutritious and easy to prepare breakfast recipe. You can prepare this instantly without any prior planning and onions in that rotti will give a nice crunch!

Make sure to serve it hot for the best taste.

Ragi / finger millet is gluten free and also one of the most nutritious grain which we can include in many South Indian foods.

It is rich in calcium, protein; also have good amount of iron and other minerals. Ragi is suitable for diabetic patients as they contain more fiber than rice and wheat and also it has better glycemic index.

Include ragi in your daily routine for a healthy living.

Ingredients:

Ragi flour - 1 cup
Onions - 1(finely chopped)
Green chillies - 1( chopped)
Curry leaves - 1 sprig(chopped)
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp(optional)
Grated carrot - ¼ cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - as required

Ragi Cupcakes / Ragi Chocolate Cupcakes / Finger Millet Chocolate Cupcakes

Can you imagine adding Ragi in baked goodies and how would it taste? See the recipe below:

This recipe is my entry for the event "Shhh!!! Cooking Secretly" challenge started by Priya Suresh. In this, I have joined with Lakshmi Vimala of Cooking Club and the ingredient given by her was Ragi and Jaggery.

I have taken Ragi as the main ingredient and prepared cupcakes using this recipe from Priya's blog. I have just altered the sugar, milk quantity and added vanilla essence. 

A special thanks to her for a wonderful recipe; my kids enjoyed eating this yummy cupcakes without knowing that I have added Ragi in it!

Ingredients:

Ragi flour - ¾ cup
All purpose flour – ¼ cup
Butter - ¼ cup
Sugar - ¾ cup (powdered)
Baking powder - ½ tsp
Baking soda - ½ tsp
Salt - ½ tsp
Cocoa powder -2 tbsp
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp
Egg - 1
Milk - ½ to ¾ cup
Walnuts - chopped(optional)

Ragi Idli / Spongy Ragi Idli / Finger Millet Idli - Diabetic Friendly Recipe

A healthy twist to our traditional and tasty Idli recipe. 

Ingredients:

Ragi flour -  2 cup
Idli Rice – 1 cup
Urad dhal – 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
Salt – to taste

Kambu Kara Kuzhipaniyaram / Pearl Millet Paniyaram / கம்பு கார பணியாரம்

Kuzhipaniyaram is a traditional South Indian breakfast / snack variety.  This can be made either sweet or spicy.  What I have given here is the spicy version using pearl millet (gluten free grain)  which is easily digestible and a highly nutritious cereal.

Thanks to my friend Kalaimathy Panneerselvam from whom I learnt this.

Ingredients:

Pearl Millet / Kambu – ½ cup
Idli Rice – 1 cup
Urad dhal – ¼ cup
Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
Salt – to taste 

For Seasoning:

Jeera (cumin seeds) - ½ tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Small onion - 10 (finely chopped)
Green chillies - 1 or 2 (Chopped)
Curry leaves - 1 or 2 sprigs (finely chopped)
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp (optional)

Directions:

Wash pearl millet / kambu, rice, urad dhal and fenugreek seeds separately to get grid of stones or dirt.

Soak all of them (rice, kambu, urad dhal and fenugreek seeds) together in water for about 4 hours. And grind them to fine paste.

Transfer it to a separate container; add salt and mix well. Allow to ferment for about 8 to 10 hours or overnight.

Heat oil in a kadai; add mustard seeds and jeera. 

After it crackles, add chopped onions, green chillies and curry leaves. Fry till onions become translucent.

Once it is done; add the seasoning mixture and grated coconut into the fermented batter. Give it a mix.

Heat the kuzhipaniyaram pan; add 1 to 2 tsp oil or ghee into each hole. 

Pour batter in all the holes and allow to cook in medium flame. Turn on the other side using a tooth pick or a stick. Allow to cook till both sides turn golden brown.

Remove  from pan and serve hot with any spicy chutney (Tomato garlic chutney) or sambar.

Also try my other Kambu / Pearl millet delicacies linked below: 

kambu dosa
Kambu Sadam (Pearl Millet Rice) / Kambu Koozh (Pearl Millet Porridge)

Ragi Koozh / Finger Millet Porridge / Ragi Porridge using Jaggery

This is one of the favourite dishes of my son; try out this calcium rich porridge using Ragi flour.

Ingredients:

Ragi flour - ½ cup

Milk - 1 to 1 ½ cups

Water - 2  cups

Cardamon powder - ½ tsp

Salt - a pinch

Jaggery - 1 to 2 tbsp (adjust according to taste)

For Topping:

Ghee , Grated coconut or nuts.

Directions:

Mix jaggery and little water in a pan. Boil till the jaggery melts and filter to remove impurities if any. 

(Instead of the above, you may also powder the jaggery and add directly to ragi milk mixture)

Mix ragi flour, water, milk, cardamom powder, Jaggery water / powder and salt in a pan without any lumps.

Heat the mixture and allow to boil; stirring continuously until the mixture thickens. 

Reduce the flame; cook for some more time till the jaggery melts (if you are adding directly) and mixture thickens. Remove from flame.

Add topping as you like. Your healthy, energy rich porridge is ready to serve.

Note:

You can the adjust milk and water quantity according to the desired consistency.

I prefer to add ghee for extra energy and taste!

Check also my Ragi Dosa Recipe.

Ragi Dosa ( Using Urad Dhal) / Finger Millet Dosa / Diabetic Friendly Recipe

Ragi is a popular cereal in South india and has many health benefits. It is one of most nutritious millet and is easy to digest as well.  Ragi is rich in calcium, fiber, protein, iron and also gluten free. Ragi is called Kezhvaragu or aariyam in Tamil, Ragi in Telugu and Kannada, and Madua or Mangal in Hindi.

It  has a better glycemic index and hence is suitable for diabetics.

Ingredients:

Finger millet / Ragi flour – 2 cup
Urad dhal – ½ cup
Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
Salt – to taste

Directions:

Wash & soak urad dhal  and fenugreek seeds in water for an hour.

Grind both the ingredients together into fine paste by adding  water. 

Add ragi flour into the grinder along the urad dhal batter and allow to grind till it completely mixed properly. ( this step is for even mixing of ragi flour)

Transfer it to a separate container; add salt and mix well. 

Allow to ferment for nearly 8 to 10 hours or overnight.  

Once it is fermented, mix the batter well before preparing dosas.
(The consistency should be little thin than idli batter; so add water if required before preparing dosa.

Heat the dosa pan; pour a ladle full of batter and spread it in circular motion from inside.

Drizzle some oil over the dosa, close with the lid and allow it cook or flip it and cook on both sides.

Remove dosa from the pan and serve hot with any spicy chutney or sambar.

Check side dishes for Idli / dosa varieties.

Kambu(கம்பு தோசை) / Bajra Dosa / Pearl Millet Dosa

Kambu is a highly nutritious and tasty cereal.   It is easy digestible and is rich in fibre, minerals and vitamins. 

It is known by many names Sajje in Kannada, Kambu in Tamil, Bajra in Hindi, Sajjalu in Telugu, Kambam in Malayalam and Pearl Millet in English.

Ingredients:

Pearl Millet / Kambu – 3 cup
Rice – 1 cup
Urad dhal – ½ cup
Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
Salt – to taste