“Just replace the rice with a millet!”

Pooja: Hey everyone! 

I’m on a bit of a mission to switch my diet from wheat to millets, but I’m not quite sure how to cook with them. I’ve watched some YouTube recipes, but I think I’d really benefit from learning alongside someone who regularly uses and prepares millets. Is there anyone here who enjoys cooking with millets? I would love to connect and collaborate! 

Kala: Me!

Anshu: I would also like to learn, as the doctor told me to cut gluten.

Pooja: Same reason.

Madhu: I have been making barley khichdi; it’s the same process as making a daliya or moong dal khichdi but needs longer to cook, and bajra or jowar uttapams with dahi. It’s simple, but you need a non-stick pan and a silicone spatula to flip them.

Kay:There is a brand ‘Jiwa’ that makes flour, which I’ve used for bread cakes with mixed success, and for roti, quite well. 

Madhu: My sister makes laddoos, cakes, everything completely gluten-free.

Kay: I enjoy bajra and ragi in dosa formats because it’s quite thick. I also make congee with these, and eat it with yoghurt and onion, making for a filling and cooling lunch. As a rice replacement, I usually use quinoa, thinnai, or samai millets.

Nidhi: If you want to shift slowly, you can start by adding ragi/jowar/bajra/makkai atta to wheat atta in 1:1 proportion for rotis. Idlis, dosas, bhakris, uttapams are easily made with the millets. Just replace the rice with a millet. If you are on the Kitchen group, there is Architect Jenny there who has been experimenting with millets for some time now, and is very helpful. She recently made ragi soup.

Manasa: In dosa and idli batter, instead of rice, you can use foxtail millets. Once the dosa batter is made, before fermentation, you can add ragi also, to make ragi dosa.