The little millet also called as சாமை in Tamil, is a millet which grows in Asia, prominently in India. The little millet belonging to small millets family is enriched with fiber making it an alternative to carbohydrate rich foods like Rice and Wheat.
Health Benefits of Little Millet
- Anti-oxidant.
- Contains more dietary-fiber thereby helps in diabetes control.
- Helps to lower the cholesterol.
- Offers a lot of energy and reduction in body fat.
- Helps treating anemia as it contains good quality of Iron.
Recipes
Saamai Thayir Saatham
What are required?
A cup of little millet, 2 cups of curd, finger-length ginger, 2 green chillies, some coriander leaves, table salt as required.
How to prepare?
Boil the little millet in 2 cups of water till it gets cooked to rice consistency. Add 2 cups of curd to the boiled millet once the millet gets cooled. Mash the millet along with the curd. Add finely chopped ginger, finely chopped green-chilies and mix it well. Fry some mustard seeds and urad dal in a heated gingelly oil and add it to the millet curd rice. Add table salt as required and mix it very well.
Tastes good when served along with Avakai or citron pickle.
Samai Upma
What are required?
Little Millet half cup, small onion 6 – 8, 2 green chillies, 1 teaspoon Gingelly Oil, Water 1.5 cup, carrot 2 tablespoonful and peas 1 tablespoonful. Urad dal and Mustard.
How to prepare?
The little millet must be thouroughly washed and soaked in water for 15 minutes. Temper mustard and urad dal in a pan with oil and saute chopped onions, green chilli and ginger till the onions turn golden in color. Add the carrot and peas with 1.5 cups of water and let it boil. After the water, starts to boil, add the soaked little millet to it. Reduce the flame and cover the pan and let the little millet get cooked. The approximate time required will be 10 minutes. A tablespoon of ghee can be added once the upma is ready and this can be served with tomato thokku or sugar with ghee.