Functional Foods with Barnyard Millet

Noodles are one of the most preferred food items among all age groups, having a longer shelf life and significant commercial importance. Barnyard millet has relatively low carbohydrate content (58.56%) having slow digestibility. This health benefit of millet was buy millet exploited in a research by Surekha et al, by preparing value-added low glycemic index noodles from barnyard millet flour by incorporating sago flour, pulse flour at different levels to develop plain, pulse and vegetable noodles respectively.

The findings indicated a significant increase in nutrient composition in pulse and vegetable noodles compared to plain noodles. The glycemic index, of pulse noodles (35.65) and vegetable noodles (38.02) was far less than plain noodles (42.07).

Recipes with Barnyard Millet
Barnyard Payasam

Ingredients:

Barnyard millet – 150 g
Sugar – 250 g
Milk – 250 ml
Saffron – 4-5 threads
Dry fruits (cashew, almond and pista) – 50 g
Ghee – 30 ml
Preparation Method:

Cook together barnyard millet, saffron and milk on slow heat until the millet gets mashed.
Add sugar and stir gently to cook payasam.
Heat ghee in a pan add all dry fruits and roast until golden color and add to the cooked payasam.
It can be served hot or cold.
Barnyard Payasam
Faraali Dosa

Ingredients:

1/2 cup barnyard millet
1/2 cup amaranth seed flour
1/2 cup sour buttermilk
1 tbsp ginger-green chilli paste
rock salt to taste
oil for cooking
For Serving:

Peanut curd chutney

Preparation Method:

Clean, wash and soak the barnyard millet in enough water in a deep bowl for at least 2 hours.
Drain and blend in a mixer to a smooth mixture using 2 tbsp of water.
Transfer the mixture into a deep bowl, add the amaranth seed flour, buttermilk, ginger-green chilli paste and rock salt and mix well. Cover with a lid and keep aside to ferment overnight.

Heat a non-stick tava (griddle), pour a ladleful of the batter on the tava (griddle) and spread it in a circular motion to make a 125 mm. (5″) diameter thin dosa.
Smear a little oil along the sides, cook till both the sides of the dosa turns golden brown in color and fold over to make a semi-circle.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 to make 7 more dosas.
Serve immediately with peanut curd chutney.