Millet Cooking Workshop, Bhopal Edition

Thirty millet enthusiasts joined us for a cooking workshop, where four exciting dishes left everyone surprised at the grains’ versatility!
Photo By Pulkit Gandher.

On a sun-lit winter Sunday, we hosted our millet cooking workshop at the charming Cafe Amado in Bhopal. This immersive experience brought together 33 participants for lively recipe demonstrations and engaging conversations about diversifying our diets with millets, for better health and exciting new flavours.

 

Our cooking workshop showcased four innovative ways to cook with millets—each dish so delicious that participants came back for seconds.

Hale and Hearty: Making Nourishing Salads

ChefTZac demonstrating The Mixed Millet Salad. Photos by Pulkit Gandher.

The salad can be mixed and matched to create endless flavour possibilities. (L) Photo by Team Locavore. (R) Photo By Pulkit Gandher.

ChefTZac crafted a vibrant mixed salad using foxtail, kodo, and little millet, paired with a roasted tomato dressing and garlic yoghurt. Served with toppings like pickled tendli, tender red amaranth, and charred corn kernels, this dish kept local produce and sustainability at the core.

 

Participants were encouraged to create their own variations by mixing and matching seasonal fruit and vegetables, or nuts, along with their millet of choice, creating colourful salads that were good for both people and the planet.

Thinking out of the Box: Poha With a Twist

Chef Meenal Shejwar demonstrating Kodo Millet Poha with Green Choulai. Photos by Pulkit Gandher.

For a unique, local breakfast option, Meenal Rai Shejwar of Cafe Amado showcased a kodo millet poha, topped with crispy choulai and sev. This wholesome and familiar dish was reimagined by substituting the poha with millets, and topping it with local greens, making it even more nutritious!

 

The poha was a huge hit—and incredibly filling—leaving attendees enthusiastic about trying it in their own kitchens.

An Ode to Bhopal: Garadu Chaat and Malpua with Rabdi

Chef Sayani Sengupta demonstrating Garadu ki Chaat and Galawati Kebab, and Ragi Chhena Malpua with Rabdi. (L) Photo by Team Locavore. (R) Photo by Pulkit Gandher.

Photos by Team Locavore.

For the main course, attendees learned a cross between garadu ki chaat and galawati kebab. The melt-in-your-mouth proso millet and yam kebab offered a vegetarian interpretation of the classic Awadhi dish, which became the highlight of our workshop. 

 

Then, we concluded the morning with a sweet finale: delicious ragi chhena malpua, served with dried mahua flower rabdi. 

 

Workshop attendees later shared their excitement over discovering how versatile and exciting cooking with millets could be—which helped change perceptions that millets were “boring” to prepare. As a parting gift, guests were encouraged to explore our specially curated Millet Cookbook, which included twelve recipes from our bank, developed by the Miller Revival Project’s Cooking Lab.

We ended the day hopeful that this event would mark a starting point for people to embark on their own, personal millet journeys.

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.