SAAMAI IDLY( LITTLE MILLET IDLY)

'Millets','Siru thaaniyam' ,which are getting popular among the people as healthy food,gluten free good even among western countries. But these  used to be known as food of poor or field laborers in villages in India .

Millets are miles a head of rice and wheat in their mineral content.More fiber than rice or wheat.Some of them have about fifty times that of rice.Finger millet has 30 times more calcium than rice.so are other millers ,which  have twice the amount of calcium than rice.So is the Iron content in Foxtail and little millet .Similarly are the micronutrient like Beta Carotene , which is abudent in these millets.

Nutrient content of Millets

Name.            Protein(g).        Fiber(g).        Minerals(g).        Iron(mg).       Calcium(mg)

Pearl millet-       10.6.              1.3.                 2.3.                   16.9.              38

Finger millet-       7.3.               3.6.                2.7.                    3.9.               344

Foxtail millet-     12.3.               8.                  3.3.                     2.8.               31

Proso millet-      12.5.               2.2.               1.9.                     0.8.               14

Kodo millet -        8.3.               9.                   2.6.                    0.5.                27

Little millet -         7.7.               7.6.                1.5.                    9.3.                17

Barnyard millet-   11.2.             10.1                4.4.                    15.2.              11

Rice              -       6.8.              0.2.                 0.6.                     0.7.               10

Wheat.         -       11.8.             1.2.                1.5.                     5.3.                41

Courtesy : www.swaraj.org

We used to have so,e of these millets when my mama was alive. She used to make couple of dishes but never gave a thought about the importance of these except for the taste which I loved it. So ever cared to learn these from my mom... Yeah many of us take out parents for granted,especially mom...

Anyways...during my recent to India I visited our family friend Muthu Anna's organic shop (Farm Shop, in Harrington road -https://www.facebook.com/pages/Farmshop/444102325626128)

where he sold all the organic millets with other things.(have to mention spl oil free pickle...omg! Yummy)

So when he told about soft millet idly I wanted to buy all the varieties but was not sure if it will be allowed in customs so just got one small pack of 'samai'(little millet) and bamboo rice( yet to try recipes using this)

Anna gave a book on various recipes using millets ,but my cousin Viji Akka also told me about samai idly so the first thing I tried was idly ,which came out sooooooo good that when I gave to my neighbor .

She immediately wanted to know where this can be bought here...

Any the story is getting long.. Let's see the recipe,which is so very simple.

Ingredients:

Samai rice ( little millet) - 1cup

Idly rice - 1 cup

Urad dhal - 1/2 cup

 

Method:

1) Soak Samai rice and idly rice together and urad dhal separately for 6 hrs

2) Grind the rice and urad separately (similar to normal idly batter) adding necessary water and mix adding salt and let in ferment.(I usually grind in the late evening and let it to ferment for making idly in the morning)

3) Pour it in idly mould and cook for approximately for8-10 min (if you insert a stick it will come clean)

 

I am sure you will fall in love with this idly like my neighbor .Believe me I am regretting that I did not bring more of this from India . Me and my neighbor have been searching shops for this millet.