Millet - Bird food or Culinary delight?

Millet - Another stranger in our culinary world, perhaps due to the widespread rumour of millet being used as bird and animal food.
It's much more than that, in fact, millet is another less known grain(actually seed but considered grain in the kitchen.) that does not contain gluten thus making it a great choice for celiacs.


Millet is also very easily digestible and highly nutritious; A great source of phosphorus(Vital for your cells.), magnesium, manganese and tryptophan. Also contains Copper (19-20% Daily value in 1 cup.) and Iron. (8-9% Daily value in 1 cup.) 
Good for neutralising the acid levels in your body, too.

As food, it can be enjoyed as either salty or sweet dish in sides, salads, main courses or consumed on its own as porridge. Has a very similar consistency to polenta and Couscous.
Like preparing any kind of grains, you must wash the millet seeds before cooking, rinse well with warm water in a sieve, recommend doing so several times in order to wash out all the dirt.
Try roasting the seeds on a dry skillet before cooking, allowing them to turn slightly golden, giving your porridge a nutty hint.
There are several methods when it comes to preparing millet, you can boil it in a pot with a lid.
Use a 1: 3 ratio (1 Cup of millet, 3 cups of water or as instructed on the package.) with a drop of salt, the cooked millet will become grainy like rice.
You can also give it a nice creamy consistency by adding cream or milk.
When cooking with cream/milk, be sure to stir it often.

Sweet millet porridge with Vanilla & Cinnamon apples.
Serves 2


- One cup of millet.
- Two cups of water.
- Cup of milk/lighter cream ( when using thicker cream, use less of it and balance with water.)
- Pinch of salt
- One teaspoon of brown(Demerara.) sugar.

Thoroughly wash the millet, put them into a little saucepan, add water and a pinch of salt.
Turn the heat to medium and let it cook under a lid for 10-15 mins.
Add milk/cream and sugar, stir to prevent the porridge from sticking to the bottom.
Turn the heat lower, let it cook slowly for about 10 more minutes, stirring often.
Taste - if you feel the seeds are undercooked, add a drop more water.
The porridge is ready when the whole thing has a thick, creamy consistency and the seeds are almost soft.

Serve with : Simple Vanilla & Cinnamon apples.


Dice an apple into 1cm cubes, grab a frying pan, drop in a little chunk of butter or use a drop of olive oil, add apples, spoonful of brown sugar, half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a spoonful of vanilla sugar.
Let it all heat for a few moments, letting the butter / oil mix with the ingredients, then add a splash of water (Roughly 3-4 spoonfuls.) 
Heat it under a lid, stir once in a while. Ready when the water has mixed with the ingredients, turning the apple soft and leaving a thick cinnamon & vanilla sauce.

                                                                                     Enjoy!