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You are here: Home / Millet Recipes / How to cook millets – Millet Types – Varagu Saamai Thinai Kuthiraivali Kambu

How to cook millets – Millet Types – Varagu Saamai Thinai Kuthiraivali Kambu

July 8, 2014 by Sharmilee J 41 Comments

Millet Varieties

I wanted to have a compiled millets post eversince I started trying millet recipes but I took some time to get used with all the millets. As for the past few months I had been buying one variety of millet each month and had been experimenting and this time I got all of them(as shown above) as now I am confident enough 🙂 I learnt cooking millets from the cookbook my neighbour gave me, even the measures I got it from there.

And its time we take pride in cooking these ancient mostly forgotten miracle grains…Shall we?!

Now lets get on to the FAQ’s first:

What are Millets?
Millets are a group of highly variable small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains. Millets are known as “Small Grains” or “Siru Thaaniyangal” in Tamil.Millets are one of the oldest foods known to humans and possibly the first cereal grain to be used for domestic purposes.Millets are also unique due to their short growing season. They can develop from planted seeds to mature, ready to harvest plants in as little as 65 days. This is important in heavily populated areas. When properly stored, whole millets will keep for two or more years.

Why to eat Millets?

  • Millets are gluten free, rich in fiber and proteins.
  • Their rapid growth and shorter growing seasons make millets ideal for emergency, late-planted, and double cropping situations.So mostly they are grown organic without any pesticides and chemicals.
  • Millets are highly nutritious, non-glutinous and not acid forming foods. Hence they are soothing and easy to digest.
  • Compared to rice, especially polished rice, millets release lesser percentage of glucose and over a longer period of time. This lowers the risk of diabetes.
  • Millets are particularly high in minerals like iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium. Finger millet (Ragi) is the richest in calcium content, about 10 times that of rice or wheat. 

Where to buy Millets?
Try getting millets in organic stores or at any trusted supermarket so that its already cleaned else you will have to take the pain of cleaning to remove husk if any.

Saamai

Millet Varieties:

English Tamil  Hindi
Pearl millet  Kambu  Bajra
Foxtail Millet  Thinai   Kangni
Kodo Millet  Varagu  Kodra
Barnyard Millet Kuthiraivali  Jhangora
Little Millet Saamai  Kutki 
Finger Millet Kelveragu  Mandua
Sorgum Cholam  Jowar

Thinai

Cooking Methods for Millets (2 methods)
1.Pan Method – Refer stepwise
2.Pressure Cooker Method : For 1 cup of millet add the same 3 cups and pressure cook for 3 whistles in medium flame.

I would prefer the pan method for making plain rice variety and pressure cooker method for making upma / pongal.

Varagu

How to cook millets

Preparation Time:10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves:2
Recipe Category: Main | Recipe Cuisine: indian

Millet – 1 cup
Water – 3 cups*
* Water quantity slightly differs for thinai and kambu alone.Check my notes section.

Kuthiraivali

Millet Recipes:
The millet varieties can easily be substituted for rice and wheat. The recipes I have tried so far are:
1.Thinai Upma, Thinai Payasam
2.Kambu Koozh, Kambu Thayir Sadam, Kambu Sadam, Kambu Dosai(recipe coming up soon)
3.Varagu Pongal (recipe coming up soon)
4.Kuthirai Vali Idiyappam
5.Saamai Upma
6.Ragi Malt, Ragi Kozhukattai

There are many recipes you can try with millets like adai, roti, idli, dosa etc will sure post them one by one.

Method:

  1. Clean the millet first and remove any grits if any.Take the millet(I used varagu here), rinse it in water and set aside.Boil water. Here I have used only 1/4 cup of millet so adjusted water quantity accordingly.How to make baby corn paneer jalfrezi - Step1
  2. Add the rinsed millet, and let it cook covered till all the moisture is absorbed and the grain is cooked till soft.
    How to cook millets - Step2
  3. Once all the water has been absorbed by the millet, switch off and keep aside for 10mins by that resting time it will cook further.Then fluff it up with a laddle.
    How to  cook millets - Step3

Serve hot with sambar and any veggie of your choice.

Millet Lunch

My Notes:

  • For thinai alone soak for an hour and cook else it will take longer or you will need to add more water.Check thinai upma recipe. 
  • If you want pulav style grains then use 2 to 2 and 1/2 cups of water if you want it little more mushy then 3 cups water will be perfect.If you want to make variety rice then use 2 and 1/2 cups of water.
  • And if you want more creamier porridge consistency then add 4 cups of water.
  • Rinsing is optional.While washing take care as the grains are tiny it gets easily washed away with water, You can use a big wide strainer to wash/rinse  the millets.
  • Also you can even roast the millet for few mins to enhance the nutty flavour of the grain.
  • Serve millets always hot / warm exceptional for kambu alone.
  • The time required to cook depends on each millet variety. 
  • You can make any variety rice or khichdi with the millets just substitute millet for rice.
  • In the varagu sadam pic above you see I used 2 and 1/2 cups of water to get it grain separated as I wanted to make lemon rice with it.
  • As I made just 1/4 cup I used my small pan but if you are making 1 cup or more use a thick bottomed vessel to cook to avoid sticking at the bottom.

Kambu

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Tags: how to cook millets,varagu saamai thinai kuthiraivali kambu,varagu recipes,saamai recipes,thinai recipes,kambu recipes,kuthiraivali recipes,easy cooking method for millets,millet recipes,millet information,varagu saamai thinai kuthiraivali kambu recipes,cooking millets,why to eat millets,where to buy millets,millets for diabetics

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. SaralaThanga says

    July 8, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    Very very useful post…..I too love millets a lot. Nowadays they are regular in our diet.
    Lovely clicks…..your food photography is excellent Sharmi….Really I want to learn !!!

    Reply
  2. swathi Moorthy says

    July 8, 2014 at 2:39 pm

    Wonderful post.. the use of such millet is almost nil now and the lifestyle is such that mostly people consue more carbs.. I have been looking for rice alternatives for sometime and this post really helps!! Thanks 🙂

    Reply
  3. Suchi Sm says

    July 8, 2014 at 2:47 pm

    usefull post sharmi.. loved the way you explained them all…

    Reply
  4. Mahalakshmi says

    July 8, 2014 at 3:45 pm

    Sharmee hats off ….. Good job. Thank you for such a good post. Our generation are really not aware of these foods. Keep doing this good job!!!!

    Reply
  5. traditionallymodernfood says

    July 8, 2014 at 3:57 pm

    Very useful post for healthy lifestyle

    Reply
  6. Gayathri srinivasan says

    July 8, 2014 at 6:13 pm

    very useful post

    Reply
  7. Durga Karthik. says

    July 8, 2014 at 11:46 pm

    Thanks for taking the efforts to give us a healthy way of life.

    Reply
  8. Uma Ramanujam says

    July 9, 2014 at 4:21 am

    I have also compiled a post about this Sharmi. What a coincidence. Nice post with useful information and nice pictures as always.

    Reply
  9. KG says

    July 9, 2014 at 8:28 am

    Thx Sharmee for sharing very useful info. any recommended shop in Chennai to get Millets?

    Reply
    • SHARMILEE J says

      July 9, 2014 at 11:07 am

      Not really sure about shops in Chennai

      Reply
    • Prabha Sankar says

      July 14, 2014 at 9:43 pm

      Hi Sharmilee,
      In super markets you will get the branded/ certified millet products. Most of the companies sell only the polished millets as it looks white just like rice varieties. Eating polished millets does not provide any nutritional benefits. It is just like eating the polished rice.

      My request to all the readers is to search for the organic shops in your localities where you can get the unpolished millets without impurities.

      In Chennai, the best quality millets are available at Restore organic shop (it is run by volunteers & the URL is http://restore.org.in/).

      Reply
  10. manjooo says

    July 9, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    Very useful post..never ever tried this at home….will grab a packet next i see them in super market!!! thanks sharmi

    Reply
  11. Divya Janarthanan says

    July 11, 2014 at 2:54 am

    Hi mam, Ive been recently looking up your blog. found it very useful for my daily cooking and making homemade things like paneer and butter. thanks to you 🙂 ive been married recently! my in laws place is in coimbatore, though we stay in kochi. we visit coimbatore every few months. it would be kind of you if you could point me as to where i can buy millets in coimbatore (as in specific shops). thanks a lot.

    Reply
    • SHARMILEE J says

      July 11, 2014 at 3:43 am

      Thats good to know Divya…I usually get from Nilgiris or Rangasamy Chettiyar Shop, both are in RS Puram but now millets are available in many supermarkets, but see to it that its cleaned else we need to manually clean it.

      Reply
    • Divya Janarthanan says

      August 12, 2014 at 2:50 pm

      thanks for the reply sharmilee! ive been able to procure most of the millet from Cbe and have successfully made your thinai arisi upma! 🙂

      Reply
    • Radha says

      September 1, 2015 at 4:46 pm

      Can you make kanji mavu with millets, Do you need to roast them lightly before grinding.in mixie

      Reply
  12. contemporarymuslimwoman says

    July 18, 2014 at 7:59 am

    Hi Sharmi! Thank u so much for this post! I didnt know millet was Indian! I have a pack of organic hulled millet. Its light yellow in color. Which one is it in Thamizh?

    Reply
    • SHARMILEE J says

      July 18, 2014 at 8:19 am

      I think it must be thinai……

      Reply
  13. Madhavi Baskaran says

    December 9, 2014 at 4:33 pm

    Hi Sharmi,

    Very useful ideas. I like your site.

    Are there any national brand marketing these Millets?

    Where can I get them in Mumbai?

    Reply
    • SHARMILEE J says

      December 14, 2014 at 3:28 pm

      I am really not sure of any brands…I usually get it from a supermarket here

      Reply
    • Arun says

      November 13, 2016 at 2:02 am

      My mother gets these millets from local grocery store and the brand name is "Mayoora"

      http://www.mayooramillets.com

      Reply
  14. mathu thiru says

    April 25, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    very informative!!!! Is super millet and foxtail millet the same? Plz reply. . thank you 🙂

    Reply
    • SHARMILEE J says

      April 29, 2015 at 11:47 am

      No I guess, not really sure of super millet hearing it for the first time

      Reply
  15. dpsfd2005 says

    July 10, 2015 at 1:28 pm

    good

    Reply
  16. aasubram says

    August 5, 2015 at 4:55 am

    Thanks for the detailed steps 🙂 You Rock!!

    Reply
  17. Rajeswari Desu says

    January 26, 2016 at 4:57 pm

    does anyone know who can ship to US? i am very much interested in trying this.

    Reply
    • yurekha vinoth says

      May 10, 2016 at 8:57 pm

      You can get in Indian stores. Search for Hindi words

      Reply
  18. human says

    February 25, 2016 at 12:38 pm

    Excellent work. I have been looking for something like this for years. The Tamil English translation are exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much for writing this up

    Reply
  19. Someone on Earth says

    May 18, 2016 at 2:14 pm

    thank you so much for composing and posting this. very healthy recipes

    Reply
  20. Unknown says

    May 21, 2016 at 5:26 am

    Thank you for this important information.

    I recently bought 2 kinds of millet in an Asian store, one called 'Glutinous Indian Millet' (looks very much like red sorghum), and another — 'Glutinous Millet' (tiny round green-yellow seeds, like mustard). I'm trying to find out what species they are. All sources say that millets are gluten-free. I'd appreciate any help.

    Reply
  21. prabha says

    May 25, 2016 at 5:32 am

    Thanks alot for this useful post

    Reply
  22. Max says

    July 20, 2016 at 10:19 am

    Excellent. Thanks and appreciate your efforts

    Reply
  23. Bindu says

    January 25, 2017 at 10:30 am

    I have just started using millets. But I have been coming across articles connecting milkets to thyroid problems. Is this a caise for worry or is it just ignorance? Looking forward to answers from all.Thank you.

    Reply
    • Sharmilee J says

      January 25, 2017 at 11:50 am

      I am not really sure of it Bindu…..Actually this sounds new to me

      Reply
  24. R. Bhanumathi says

    April 25, 2017 at 10:31 pm

    Is it okay to replace rice intake completely by millets ( cooked like rice). ??

    Reply
  25. ArunaS says

    June 28, 2018 at 2:12 pm

    Thank you for a wonderful tutorial.
    Have a doubt though.
    You have mentioned samai:water in samai kozhukattai as 1:2
    But here it looks like 1:3
    Please clarify

    Reply
    • Sharmilee J says

      July 12, 2018 at 9:37 am

      For each recipe it varies

      Reply
  26. Karthika says

    November 30, 2018 at 4:28 pm

    Hi can u post how to make normal dosa from thinai n samai…waiting for Ur reply n post

    Reply
    • Sharmilee J says

      December 3, 2018 at 7:07 pm

      Sure will post soon

      Reply
  27. Chandrika nair says

    August 3, 2019 at 1:16 pm

    That was really helpful. I always wondered abt millets n n today got one packet.. Kodu… I must try smthing! I’m worried abt how millets affect thyroid patients! Any idea?

    Reply
    • Sharmilee J says

      October 29, 2019 at 9:48 am

      Not really sure

      Reply

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