Just as there is now a heightened awareness about yoga and other systems that take us back to a more active lifestyle, there is also a need to adopt more intelligent choices with regard to our diet. Food experts and even ordinary connoisseurs of cuisines seem to be slowly coming round to the view that there is wisdom in returning to ancient eating practices.
Ancient grains are a case in point. Refined carbohydrates such as white rice and white flour are the mainstay of modern Indian diet and, as is well known, contribute to the rising incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Once upon a time, whole grains such as amaranth, barley, brown rice, millet and sorghum were commonly used in different parts of India, especially in the rural areas. These grains and other non-Indian grains such as couscous, quinoa and spelt are not only nutritionally superior but also can be culturally acceptable carbohydrate substitutes for Indians.
The five most common ancient grains that have the potential to be used more in Indian cooking, along with brown rice, as a replacement for white rice, are amaranth (rajgira), barley (jau), millet (bajra), finger millet (ragi) and sorghum (jowar).
At the workshops for young chefs and TV shows, I make it a point to recommend grains such as finger millet, brown rice, barley, whole wheat, couscous and quinoa for the people of southern India, where rice and rice dishes (idlis and dosas) are eaten more regularly. Whole grain finger millet (ragi) dosas are traditional as well as nutritious and may be easily readapted to the modern Indian diet. Wheat, which goes into chapattis and rotis in northern India, can be substituted with ancient grains such as millet, sorghum, whole grain wheat flour, finger millet, amaranth and spelt.
(Ramu Butler is the Corporate Chef and F&B Manager at the Ramada Cochin Resort. The award-winning chef has just been made internationally approved Jury by the World Association of Chefs Society (WACS)
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Mixed Millet Bhel Puri
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Ingredients
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- 1 cup mix millet cooked or soaked flakes
- ½ cup ragi flakes
- 1 cup puffed rice flakes
- ½ cup roasted peanuts
- 25 gm potato namkeen
- 2 tbsp chaat masala
- 3 tbsp tamarind pulp
- 3 tbsp yoghurt
- 4 boiled potatoes, diced
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 tomatoes
- 4 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp green chilles chopped
- 3 tbsp green chutney
- 3 tbsp dry mango powder
- Salt as required
Method: Take a bowl and mix millets, ragi flakes and puffed rice flakes. Add roasted peanuts along with potato namkeen. Add potatoes, tomatoes, onions, lime juice, green chilies and salt. Sprinkle chaat masala and dry mango powder. Mix well. Top it up with tamarind pulp and yoghurt. Serve with spicy mint water (teekha pudina pani).
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Quinoa upma with pouched pudina chicken
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Ingredients
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- ½ cup quinoa
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp oil or ghee
- ¼ tsp mustard
- ½ tsp cumin
- Pinch of hing
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1 tsp channa dal
- few finely chopped ginger pieces
- (optional)
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- Salt as required
- 1 green chilli slit
- ½ cup chopped mixed vegetable (onion, carrots, peas, beans, capsicum)
ingredients for pouched pudina chicken
- 1 bunch mint leaves
- ½ cup shallots
- 2 green chillies
- 20 gms fried gram dal
- 2 tsp tamarind pulp
- 1 whole egg
Method: Soak quinoa for about 15 to 20 minutes. Heat a pan with oil, add cumin, mustard, dals and fry until they turn golden. Add curry leaves followed by hing, chopped veggies and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour water and add salt. Bring it to a boil. Drain off water from quinoa. Add them to boiling water. Cook on a medium flame until quinoa gets cooked completely and absorbs water. If there is more water left, cook longer and allow it to evaporate. When quinoa is completely cooked, they look transparent.
For chicken: Sauté mint leaves with shallots, green chillies, fried gram dal, tamarind pulp and salt. And make it into a fine paste. Mix roughly cut chicken pieces with above paste and add egg. Spread silver foil, apply oil and spread the mixture over the foil and roll it to cylindrical shape. Place the chicken in a shallow ovenproof dish and pour hot water. Cover and bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
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RAGI CHOCOLATE PASTRY
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Ingredients
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- ½ cup finger millet flour
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup curd/yogurt
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- Chocolate truffle
- Maraschino cherries
Method: Add finger millet flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon powder in a bowl. In another vessel, add curd, oil, milk and sugar, beat the mixture with a whisk, till the sugar is dissolved. Preheat the oven to 180°C for about 15 minutes. Grease cake mould with oil. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid mixture little by little and fold lightly making circular motions. Pour the cake batter into the greased cake mould and bake for 40 minutes or till the cake is done. Check the cake by inserting a clean knife in it, if it comes out clean the cake is fully baked. Once done, cool the cake, cut it into three layers horizontally and spread chocolate truffle in each layer. Cut as required. Garnish with maraschino cherries.
