Counting nutrients and recipes with millets

livemint.com:

ragi mudde.The first time I had it, I almost choked. The mudde was probably too dense, or as newbie, I greedily took off too a large bite, or I didn’t soak it in enough curry to soften it.

I still stay away from this very popular millet-based dish from Karnataka.On the other hand, there are a couple of ragi dishes from Karnataka that I can’t have enough of—one being ragi ambali, which is a savoury beverage or porridge. The other is ragi roti.

Unlike the thicker millet bhakris made in Maharashtra, these rotis from north Karnataka have aromatics like chillies, onions, coriander, dill leaves and other spices. These can also be made plain, but as soft rotis that puff up on the tava, and remain soft for one-two days when kept wrapped in a muslin cloth.The Dietary Guidelines for Indians by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) along with the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) released on 8 May gives a strong nudge to include millets as a part of one’s daily diet.

“My Plate for the Day", which was published in the guideline, is a visual guide to what a balanced diet looks like.It recommends that half the cereal component in a day should be from whole grains like millets because they provide vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients, fibre and bioactive compounds that improve gut health.It also emphasises that all cereal or millet-based diets should be had with adequate pulses or beans for good quality protein and fibre. I’m glad they have clearly mentioned the addition of a protein source.