Little Millet

Little millet (Panicum miliare) is one of the small millets commonly known as ‘kutki’ in Hindi, ‘samai’ in Tamil and ‘samalu’ in Telugu. It is grown throughout India as a traditional crop and although related to proso millets has seeds much smaller than them. It is mostly consumed as rice. Any recipe made with staple rice can be prepared using little millets with similar taste. As these millets are smaller in size, they cook faster than rice and other millets. Little millets could be milled into flour for making roti, baked and fried items.The whole grains can be sprouted and used in salads. Dosa, upma, kichidi, tomato rice, lemon rice, curd rice, porridge, chakli, payasam, halwa and kesari are few traditional recipes prepared in different millet growing states in India.

Health Benefits

• Little millets with low carbohydrate content, slow digestibility, low glycaemic index and water-soluble gum content improve glucose metabolism.
• Millets are rich in antioxidants like polyphenols, phenolic compounds, tannins, flavonoids play an important role in promoting health by combating lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, cataract, cancers, inflammation and gastrointestinal problems which are on the rise.