Millet Mania

The Magic of Millets: Babbi and Family Rediscover the Goodness of Traditional Millet Recipes!

Babbi was out shopping for groceries with her mother when she saw a whole shelf full of packets of something that looked a bit like rice, but was smaller and round. There was a great deal of interest in these packets and a group of women were discussing the contents with excitement. It seems that these were packets of “millets” which could be used instead of rice and were very healthy.

Seeing Babbi look curiously at the packets, Mom picked up five packets and put them in the shopping cart. “Why are we getting so many? What if we don’t like this?” Babbi was quite agitated as she knew that she would have to eat these.

“Let’s take these home and then I will explain to you why they are so popular these days,” Mother pacified her as they made their way to the check-out counter. “I am sure you will like these because they can be used to make many things that you enjoy,” Mom smiled.

At home, Mother opened one of the packets and took a cup full out of it, washed it well, and then left it to soak in water. Then she sat down with some carrots, potatoes, onions, and a bright red capsicum to chop them up. She asked Babbi to join her at the table to talk about the millets. As this meant Babbi could postpone finishing her homework, she sat down happily.

“These millets are cereals, just like rice and wheat but they are less water-intensive. They can grow without much irrigation, can grow in poor soils, and do not require much care. They are hardy and can grow easily in a climate change risked world. These also have more nutrition than most other cereals,” mother explained.

“This is the reason why India decided to dedicate 2018 as the National Year of Millets and then in 2023, the International Year of Millets was celebrated around the world. This was to create awareness about the nutritional and health benefits of millet and promote how they can be used when other crops fail due to climate change."

"In fact, our parents and grandparents used these more than wheat and rice. I want you to see how millets can be used to make your favourite tikki because we are forgetting how to use them,” Mom informed Babbi.

Babbi’s eyes sparkled when she heard that they were going to have tikki in the evening.

But there were things that were not clear and Babbi had questions. “If we already had the millets, why did we shift to rice and wheat?” she asked. “And how can we forget how to use millets if Dadi was already cooking it?”

Mother explained, “In the 1950s and 1960s our country was facing food shortages and our leaders decided to focus on high yielding varieties of wheat and rice to ensure that everyone has enough to eat. Slowly, we shifted to these grains and gave up our traditional food."

"Millet is not easy to use if you don’t know how to cook it. You saw how I had to soak the millet for a few hours so that it cooks easily. We don’t have to do this in the case of white rice or the dough we prepare with wheat flour,” Mom explained as she finished chopping up the vegetables.

Babbi still had one more question. “Why did we buy 5 packets? Is it going out of stock?” she inquired.

“Come, let me show you,” Mother picked up the bowl of chopped vegetables and they made their way to the kitchen.

“India has many different kinds of millets and each of these packets has a different one. This is jowar or sorghum and has large grains. This is bajra or pearl millet which also has large grains. Now, this is sama or barnyard millet which I used to make a kheer with last month. These brown seeds are ragi or finger millet which is very nutritious. And this last packet has the smallest grains and is called kutki or little millet and this is the one we are using today. As this has very small grains, it cooks really fast. But it will still take a few hours before we boil it,” Mom explained and asked Babbi to go and finish her homework.

The duo was in the kitchen boiling the vegetables when Dad returned from office. Babbi rattled off what they were learning about how to make millet tikkis.

“Dadi used to make these tikkis very often so I know what should be done,” Dad said. He joined them in the kitchen to help. “One cup of millet has to be cooked in three cups of water and this has to be done on slow heat,” he told Babbi as he placed the pan on the gas burner. “We will take it off the heat when the water is absorbed.”

As the grains were small, this happened soon and Dad quickly mashed the millet and vegetable together with some spices. All that remained was to take small parts of the mash and shape them like tikkis and pan fry them in a little oil. While Dad was doing this, Mother made a green chutney and the healthy tikkis were soon ready to be relished.

"Yummy!! This is heavenly," Babbi exclaimed while blowing on a piece of the tikki before putting it in her mouth.

(This story is also featured in On A Good Food Hunt (2024), published by the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi.)