Elevate your Millet Cooking Workshop with Native Bombay
On a Sunday, The Locavore team members in Mumbai found themselves travelling, by train, cab, and car to Fort, one of the southernmost parts of Mumbai city, for our first-ever in-person millet cooking workshop.
We had already conducted a few online cooking workshops on Zoom, with experts preparing recipes they had developed for eager note-takers. However, we know that cooking is a multi-sensorial skill, with aromas, tastes, and feelings of heat as important to the act of learning cooking as the instructions in a recipe. Needless to say, we were incredibly excited for this first of many.
The workshop, conducted as a part of our Millet Revival Project and in partnership with Rainmatter Foundation, was held at Native Bombay, where head chef Bhairav Singh would demonstrate an array of millet-based dishes featured on the restaurant’s limited millet menu. As guests trickled into the ground floor of the dimly lit restaurant, they were served their first millet delight of the day, bajra ki raab, a savoury Rajasthani beverage made from pearl millet, yoghurt, and warm spices.
As we sipped on the raab, Shruti, a professional chef and attendee, shared why attending this workshop was important to her, “I don’t really know how to cook with and interact with different millet varieties. What I have figured out so far is how to make a batter out of some varieties and cook them to make dosas and chillas, but there’s so much more to these grains. Through this workshop, I want to kind of think about millets creatively, and take that back to my personal kitchen first, and then my professional kitchen”. It was immediately heartwarming to know that others are as excited by the endless potential of this food as we are.
(L) Nachni shammi, plated on a jackfruit leaf. (R) Bhatti ki kudki. Photos courtesy of Native Bombay.
After a short introduction from Abdeali Zoomkawala on the goal behind Native Bombay—to revive regional Indian cuisines—and a note from ChefTZac on the importance of talking about millets with nuance and texture, Chef Bhairav began the workshop. As he started preparing the first dish of the day, nachni ki shammi, he told the audience that he would talk to us in Hindi, ‘dil se’. From his heart, which is where his food comes from as well.
As he folded the nachni mixture between his fingers, he shared that millets have been present in Indian diets, especially in regions such as rural Rajasthan, for as long as one can remember. So, the revival of millets is not as universal as it might seem. Though many of us are just about awakening to the value of these nutritious and hardy grains, many have been eating them and satiating themselves for a while now. Samples of the shammi, plated with podi, fried curry leaf, and a Rajasthani tomato and garlic chutney, were passed around the room. As everyone tasted the deeply savoury ragi bites—creamy, dense, and crunchy at times—the small space filled with ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. Who knew ragi could taste this good?
Chef Bhairav made his way through the menu of the day—nachni shammi, bhatti ki kudki, and kutki phirni—and shared important tips for cooking millets. For example, it is important to soak whole millets overnight before using, and when binding and marinating with a millet flour, one must let the marinated meat rest for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Audience members frantically wrote, ate, and smelled. Some even made doodles of the dishes to remember how to make them look beautiful. Bowls of different ingredients were passed around the room for everyone to get a closer feel of every component. Many audience members discussed variations and ideas among themselves—how can this dish become a staple for a school tiffin? Is it possible to modify this dish to the tastes and diets of ageing parents? For many of us TL team members, it was incredible to see people come alive with their new knowledge of these versatile ingredients.
The kutki phirni, sweetened with jaggery and salted caramel, was the perfect dish to end the day. Full from the tasters, audience members offered their gratitude to Chef Bhairav—it was evident that everyone felt they had learned something they wanted to try in the kitchen. Many took to Instagram to share their love for the workshop as well.
As The Locavore team packed up—and promptly headed to Cafe Olympia in Churchgate for a quick chai and bun maska that the rainy weather encouraged—we felt aglow from the success of the workshop. We just knew that such workshops, full of laughter, stories, and delicious food, had to become a staple of the project. And become a staple, they did. Since then, every large event under the Millet Revival Project has had a cooking workshop woven into the programming, and we’re continually grateful for the delicious dishes we get to eat.
At The Locavore, we love planning and executing events that highlight India’s diverse local foods, celebrating community, sustainability, and cultural heritage. Our events feature engaging workshops, discussions, immersive experiences and other formats that connect you to India’s rich food culture. Interested in collaborating or having us organise an event? Reach out at connect@thelocavore.in.
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