LITTLE MILLET/ SAAMAI UPMA KOZHUKKATTAIS

Why include millet in everyday's  food??? To protect your heart, to boost respiratory health, to detoxify the body, improve your muscles and nervous system, lower risk of cancer, protect yourself from diabetes, and to increase your energy levels.Significantly, asthma and wheezing are brought down, if you continue to add millets in your food, at least 3-4 days a week.
Little Millet, called சாமை (Saamai), has been chosen by me now, to make these healthy Upma Kozhukkattais, which we normally make with rice rava. For rice rava upma kozhukkattais, refer here.
I have added some grated carrots too, to augment the nutritional value of this tiffin variety.

Ingredients

Little Millet - 11/4 cup

Split mung dhal - 1/4 cup, soaked in hot water for minimum 1 hour

Fresh grated coconut - 3 -4 tsps

water - 3 cups

salt to taste

Grated carrots - 1/2 cup

For seasoning

Cooking oil - 3 tsps

Ghee - 1 1/2 tsp

Hing powder - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds

 1 tsp

Split urad dhal - 1 1/2 tsps

Channa dhal - 1 1/2 tsps

Ginger - 1 tsp, finely chopped

Green chillies - 2-3 slit

Red chillies - 3-4 broken

Curry leaves - handful

Recipe Cuisine: South Indian; Category: Breakfast/dinner

Prep time: 10 mts; Cooking time: 30 mts

Yields 20 kozhukkattais

Little millet / Saamai shown below in pciture

Mung dhal soaked in hot water

All lined up

In a wide pan, add cooking oil and ghee

The 2 pictures below show the seasoning of the ingredients mentioned above

Add the water measured, after the seasonings turn golden

Now add the carrots and soaked mung dhal. Add salt

Add  the grated coconut

Little millet added

Keep covered with a lid for awhile, keeping the flames on the lowest. Below picture shows the half done mixture.

Now it is done. Cooked fully.

Allow to cool down in a broad pan. Allow to cool off naturally, don't switch on the fan. The mixture will become dry.

When it is touchable, knead well.

Shape into even sized kozhukkattais

Keep on a greased steaming plate, and steam for 15 mts.

After steaming

Serve hot with vathakuzhambu or coriander chutney

This post first appeared in www.malpatskitchen.com

Notes

*Similar kozhukkattais can be made using any variety of millets, i.e., Varagu (Kodo Millet), Thinai (Foxtail millet) and Kudhiraivali(Barnyard millet). The taste is somewhat similar, and so is the nutrition part of it.

Categories: Healthy Cooking, Millet Recipes, No Onion-no garlic, Tiffin Varieties