How to cook millet
Millet cooks much like rice, with a little more water and time. Here's the basic pot, plus two other ways to use it.
Millet, the small ancient grains like foxtail, finger and pearl, cooks simply once you know the rhythm. The base is one pot; from there it bends into porridge or a softer side.
What you'll need
Millet of any kind (foxtail is a friendly one to start).
Water.
A pan with a lid.
Method
1. Rinse the millet in a couple of changes of water, then drain. A short soak, twenty minutes or so, softens it and shortens the cooking.
2. For a rice-like result, use about two parts water to one part millet. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat low and cover.
3. Simmer gently fifteen to twenty minutes, until the water is gone and the grains are tender. Rest it, covered, five minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Three ways to use it
As rice: serve the fluffed millet under a curry or a stew, in place of rice.
As porridge: use more water, about three parts to one, and cook it longer and softer for a warm breakfast, with milk and fruit.
As a flatbread: millet flour, like pearl millet (bajra), makes a roti for the drier, cooler end of the year.
Good to know
Millet sits lower on the glycaemic scale than white rice, with more fibre, and some research links it with steadier blood sugar. Many people find it fills them well. Cook it a few times and notice how the millet meals sit with you, against the rice or wheat they stand in for.