Meet the millets — a healthy snacking and dietary option
The Hindu
With the United Nations declaring 2023 as the Year of Millets, pearl, foxtail, amaranth, broomcorn and buckwheat are back in the news, and on menus
Whatever rice and wheat can do, millets can do better as established by cookies, savouries and all manner of munchies.
With the United Nations declaring 2023 as the Year of Millets earlier this year, pearl, foxtail, amaranth, broomcorn and buckwheat are back in the news. Widely used in India and popular as bajra, kakum, rajgira, chena and kuttu, millets are not just a passing fad.
Indian, Chinese and Egyptian civilisations used these cereals 6,000 years ago, and the Vedas make mention of a tribal girl feeding Lord Muruga a meal of foxtail millet and honey. Once a staple in almost every region, the cultivation of millets went into decline in India due to a host of factors including colonisation and changed cropping patterns.