Millet & Oats idli - quick breakfast recipes

Happy new year to you all. It has been more than six months since this blog was updated. So much has happened in our lives (only for the better, hopefully). One of the two guys is now in Germany (and hopefully will post some recipes from there) and the second guy has quit his job and plunged headfirst into freelance travel writing. Check out his blog, called The Sunlit Window, here. We have realized this blog is part of our existence and it should be kept alive. So here goes the first post of the year. We promise to post more recipe ideas and be regular at it as well.

Off to the post...

Millets have become a regular staple in our daily diet. So should it be in yours. Like quinoa in the west, there is a silent millet revolution happening in India (at least in South India). If you scroll down, you will notice a few more millet recipe ideas here. Besides their health benefits, millets also provide variety in your day to day meal.

This millet idli can be done in 20 minutes flat. It is for those days when you open your fridge and find empty trays staring at you because you forgot to buy that dosa batter previous night. And you realise there are no eggs as well. There is oats but you hate the mushy paste it makes when it is mixed with milk. Should I go on and on about the scenarios here? No, but I will tell you this much. You can get creative with the kind of millet you use with this recipe and these idlis could even make the idli haters fall in love with it because it is crumbly in texture.

Millet / Oats idli (serves 2)

Here's what you will need:

1/2 cup of little millet (coarsely ground)
1/2 cup of oats (coarsely ground as well)
1/2 cup of thick curd
1 pinch of asafoetida
1 pinch of baking soda
Salt - to taste

Millet - Oats idli is ready to serve

Here's how you make it:

1) Coarsely grind little millet. Repeat the process with oats. Mix both.
2) Lightly roast the millet and oat flour mix along with the pinch of asafoetida
3) After the mixture is cool, stir in the curd and salt and make a thick batter. Do not add a lot of water because it will ruin the consistency of your idlis.
4) Stir in the baking soda and set it aside for a minute or two.
5) Pour it into your idli cooker and steam for 7 minutes.

Millets-Oats idli

Ta-da, your millet-oats idli is ready. Serve it hot with coconut chutney.

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Spiced pancake

Why do pancakes have to be just rounds of cooked white flour that depend on syrup for taste? Try out these pancakes with the motley bunch of slightly atypical ingredients and enjoy the sweet spice burst for breakfast.

For about 8 pancakes you will need:
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp ground mace
- 1 tsp crushed fennel seeds (saunf)
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp yoghurt
- 3/4 cup milk at room temperature
- 1 Tbsp sweet basil seeds (sabja seeds)
- 3 Tbsp roasted wheat germ (optional)
- 1/2 cup millet flour (we used proso millet)
- 1/2 cup white flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt

Melt the butter on very low heat in the bowl that you will be using to make the batter and add the sugar to it. Mix to cool as well as to dissolve the sugar. While the butter cools, mix the yoghurt, milk and the basil seeds and keep aside for the seeds to ooze their gel. Once the butter cools completely add vanilla extract, ground mace, fennel seeds and the egg and mix well. Add millet flour and mix until well incorporated. There is no need to be extra careful as with wheat flour, as there is no gluten that will develop. By now the basil seeds would have become gelatinous. Add the milk mixture along with salt, stir well and let stand for about 30 mins. This time is necessary for the millet flour to soak in the liquid a little and for the basil seeds to further thicken the mixture. You can even make this ahead and keep it in the fridge overnight, in which case use only one tablespoon of yoghurt. The spices will be more pronounced.
When it is time to make the pancakes, sift in the white flour and baking soda (and wheat germ if using) and stir carefully till the flour is just incorporated and there are no lumps. Heat a skillet and add some oil to it. Ladle in the batter and cook on both sides. Serve with fresh fruit or honey.