Don't get panicked when you see this "healthy" thingy! It is mostly what we are all into just that I got some extra dose of injection because the health fever bit me when I was carrying my daughter, A.
My healthy diet will usually comprise of millets, quinoa, whole grains, no to unrefined, greens, vegetables, seasonal fruits, lots of water.
I must thank Dr.K.Sivaraman (http://siddhavaithiyan.blogspot.com/) for introducing me to the tiny little grains/seeds. His writings inspired me to start including millet almost everyday by some means. My research took me to this place called Winco Foods in Sacremento, CA where they have bulk bins selling hulled millets (in Tamil it is called "thinai arisi") for a whooping 69 cents a pound!
Now this is when the headache started; what do I make with it? I started looking for options and found this blog https://millets.wordpress.com/. First thing I tried to make was, "Thinai arisi ven pongal". Pongal is a very forgiving dish. I completely substituted rice for thinai and there's never a going back now. I make pongal now with hulled millet (thinai), barnyard millet (kudiraivaali), kodo millet (varagarisi) and little millet (saamai).
Now coming to idlis/dosas which are the everyday breakfast to little A and this mommy. Idli is a very sensitive food to make. I didn't really want to ruin the texture of a fluffy idli. How about substituting half rice first with millets and try? Voila! It worked! From then on, there are no white idlis in our home. It is either reddish brown because of ragi, grey because of pearl millet (kambu), or dirty white because of jowar (cholam) or others. There's no complaint from my folks just at times when my A asks me for no reddish idlis :-).
With millets you can venture out anything you do with rice. Can make puliyodharai, upma, lemon rice, coriander rice etc. Never fear to try them out. I even started making sarkarai pongal (the sweet variety of pongal with jaggery) with millets. I should call myself obsessed with or possessed by these tiny little giants (oxymoron).
In general about millets, these are tiny little grains rich in manganese, magnesium, copper and phosphorus that are rich nutrients needed by our cells. They are low GI (glycemic index) foods that lowers your blood sugar levels, provide the whole grain benefits and heart healthy. Read more about millets in http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=53
Is there a reason to go back to white rice now? Lets go shopping for millets!
More to follow!
Cheers,
Uma
My healthy diet will usually comprise of millets, quinoa, whole grains, no to unrefined, greens, vegetables, seasonal fruits, lots of water.
Let us talk Millet!
I must thank Dr.K.Sivaraman (http://siddhavaithiyan.blogspot.com/) for introducing me to the tiny little grains/seeds. His writings inspired me to start including millet almost everyday by some means. My research took me to this place called Winco Foods in Sacremento, CA where they have bulk bins selling hulled millets (in Tamil it is called "thinai arisi") for a whooping 69 cents a pound!
Now this is when the headache started; what do I make with it? I started looking for options and found this blog https://millets.wordpress.com/. First thing I tried to make was, "Thinai arisi ven pongal". Pongal is a very forgiving dish. I completely substituted rice for thinai and there's never a going back now. I make pongal now with hulled millet (thinai), barnyard millet (kudiraivaali), kodo millet (varagarisi) and little millet (saamai).
Now coming to idlis/dosas which are the everyday breakfast to little A and this mommy. Idli is a very sensitive food to make. I didn't really want to ruin the texture of a fluffy idli. How about substituting half rice first with millets and try? Voila! It worked! From then on, there are no white idlis in our home. It is either reddish brown because of ragi, grey because of pearl millet (kambu), or dirty white because of jowar (cholam) or others. There's no complaint from my folks just at times when my A asks me for no reddish idlis :-).
With millets you can venture out anything you do with rice. Can make puliyodharai, upma, lemon rice, coriander rice etc. Never fear to try them out. I even started making sarkarai pongal (the sweet variety of pongal with jaggery) with millets. I should call myself obsessed with or possessed by these tiny little giants (oxymoron).
In general about millets, these are tiny little grains rich in manganese, magnesium, copper and phosphorus that are rich nutrients needed by our cells. They are low GI (glycemic index) foods that lowers your blood sugar levels, provide the whole grain benefits and heart healthy. Read more about millets in http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=53
Is there a reason to go back to white rice now? Lets go shopping for millets!
More to follow!
Cheers,
Uma
Hmm... Very nice. I will shop for millets in local Indian grocery.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Vani!
DeleteHealthy and variety
ReplyDelete