Little Millet (Panicum miliare), one of the small millets, is called kutki in Hindi, sava (Marathi), gajro (Gujrati), same (Kannada), samai (Tamil), and samalu (Telugu). It is suitable for most age groups esp diabetics and those looking to manage weights and avoiding rice . Little millets are almost like proso milltes from same family but much smaller .

Most millet varieties have low carbs and therefore slows digestion, therefore causing no spikes in blood sugar, releases sugar slowly and slows down glucose absorption . They also have dietary fibre and gluten free.

• Little millets are more fibrous just like Barnyard millets

• some varieties of kodo millet and little millet have have 37% to 38% of dietary fiber, which is the highest among the cereals. Fiber helps maintain sound digestion and satiates hunger quickly.

• Like foxtail millet and barnyard millet, little millet is also high in Iron.

• Little millets have good fat PUFA

• Little millets have flavonoids that act as a good defense mechanism for the bodys immune system .

• Antioxidants present in little Millet helps promote good health by managing diabetes and cardio vascular, inflammation and gastrointestinal problems .

Little Millets Idli | Samai Idli

Healthy samai idli , diabetic friendly and good for weight management recommended by doctors , as a substitute for rice

• Servings12 nos

Prep Time12 hours

Cook Time7 minutes

Ingredients

• 2cups samai ( little millets )

• 1cup udad dal

• 2tbsp idli riceoptional

• 1tbsp methi

• 1/4 cup millet poha

Instructions

1. wash the millets well, in several changes of water till it runs clean

2. wash udad dal and methi well

3. soak all ingredients together for 8 hours or overnight as miilets will give maximum nutrition if soaked for longer hours . millet poha needs to be washed and soaked just 15 minutes before grinding

4. grind batter to thick idli batter consistency, allow to ferment

5. prepare idlis or dosa with same batter

6. for extra crispy dosa, add 2 tbsp rice flour to batter

chutney recipe

1/2 cup fresh grated coconut ( only white part, scrape off the brown skin )

3 tbsp fried gram dal ( pottukadalai )

2-3 green chillies

some curry leaves

salt

pinch of asafoetida powder

some finely chopped coriander leaves

small piece of ginger

grind all the above to a smooth paste .

you can temper if you wish with a tsp oil , 1-2 broken red chillies , mustard seeds .

.I dilute this after setting aside some thick chutney , by adding little water for immediate consumption , as the watered chutney will not taste good after sometime , so make sure to use only as needed .

usually in most roadside eateries in Bangalore Tumkur side, they serve this kind of watery chutney for idlis to soak in .

Browse my Instagram feed for more . Follow my Insta posts