Akbar and Birbal stories have always made our childhood awesome with a cluster of thoughts studded enough to raise a child morally. One among them is “Birbal’s khichdi’’. Almost all had studied this story and it was a part of NCERT Hindi textbook.
But we never might have clearly understood about khichdi and its health benefits till our Honourable Prime minister had mentioned it in his famous ‘Mann ki baat ‘radio program and various interviews depicting his lifestyle. The storehouse of carbohydrates, proteins and lentils bestow the benefits of immunity, blood sugar maintenance and detox. Based on regions and availability, khichdi differs from place to place. A perfect healthy khichdi is the one embedded with millets as one of the ingredients. Hence bajra and jowar khichdi are favourite among few states of North and western India.
Akbar the greatest emperor of the Mughal dynasty was often called ‘Akbar the great’ due to his administrative efficiency as king. ‘Ain – i-Akbari’ mentioning Akbar’s administration efficiency also has a special reference about crop cultivation. As we go through Akbar’s era, his dynasty suffered from water scarcity which led to his constant change of capital / ruling center. So, crops were chosen which need very less water. As the millets were one of the crops which need less water and easy to grow, the culinary kitchens of those times had recipes of different millets. There is a reference of King Salim, son of Akbar returning after a battle served with millet khichdi to remove his tiredness. Till the end of the British empire millets were the magic recipe to make British official content in Indian cuisine.
Similarly, there are many references in Yajurveda, Arthashastra and Mahabharata on millets and its recipes.
International year of millets (IYM)
“Harnessing the untapped potential of millets for food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture”.
As quoted above, Millets had a golden era, but now our kitchens have completely forgotten about the magic of millets. With the advent of the green revolution, it was good for farmers, but it led to a huge decline in millet crop production. Hence to create awareness about health and nutritional benefits of millets, 2023 is considered as the millet year by food agriculture organizations and United nations.
Millets in day – to – day life
Let’s discuss a few recipes to try out even in busy schedules. Finger millet/ ragi is selected as its easily available, enriched with protein, calcium, rejuvenative and lactogenic.
Ragi Millet Complete Breakfast
RAGI PUTTU / STEAM CAKE (Traditional breakfast – Kerala)
Ingredients:
- Ragi
- Salt
- Water
- Coconut scrapings
- Carrot scrapings
With salt and water, ragi powder is made wet, rest for 10 minutes. Cook with carrot and coconut scrapings at bottom, middle and top in a puttu maker or a vessel suitable for steam cook. Cook for 15 minutes.
As ragi puttu is dry, it’s often served together with any healthy curry like moong/ chana curry.
Greengram curry (Side dish for ragi puttu)
Ingredients:
- Overnight soaked green gram
- Carrot
- Green chili, garlic & ginger
- Salt, turmeric, red chili powder
- Water
- Oil
Soaked green gram is cooked in a pressure cooker for 4 whistles, except oil. Add sufficient water and pour oil at last.
Indian Institute of Ayurveda Research & Hospital, Rajkot organised Master Chef Competition on 29th June 2023 where Dr Preesha Hold 2nd Rank in the category of Sweet Dish. The Ancient Ayurveda Magazine Heartily Congratulate Dr Preesha P. for her great achievement.
Ragi Ilayada (Sweet dish)
Ingredients:
- Ragi powder
- Water
- Oil
- Salt
- Coconut
- Jaggery
- Cardamom powder
Water is boiled with oil and salt. Ragi powder is added and made into dough. Rest for 10 minutes. In a pan, melt jaggery and add coconut scrapings and cardamom powder. Dough is spread on a banana leaf (eating on a banana leaf is good for skin and has several other health benefits) with water. Spread coconut jaggery mix to ragi dough on leaf, fold and steam cooked for 15 minutes. Served as an evening sweet or morning snack.
Ragi kurukku (Beverages)
Ingredients:
- Whole ragi
- Jaggery
- Milk
- Water
- Salt
Soaked whole ragi is grinded with water, filtered, add jaggery and a pinch of salt. Cook slowly by adding milk. It is a good energy drink for adults, nutritious soup for newborns, and also widely used as weaning food.
Similarly, Ragi dosa and other millets like jowar, bajra etc. can be used to prepare mouth licking recipes.
“Nutrition is not about eating; it’s about eating right”. Hence next time when
you take a morsel of food always think –
“You are what you eat” and whatever you eat, is reflected on your skin & body”
