#BlogchatterA2Z- “B”- Barnyard Millet, A quick and healthy one pot meal!

April 1, 2020 /

Welcome to day 2 of #BlogchatterA2Z and I am really excited to share the second post for “healthy eating for busy moms” series. In this series, I am sharing healthy, easy and tasty recipes for busy moms and their busy families.

hoping these recipes will help you stay healthy and fit and also helps in weight loss process.

As B, I am sharing an exciting recipe called “Barnyard millet or Mordhan khichdi”.

What is Barnyard millet?

Barnyard millet or Mordhan (in hindi) is a white, round grains belonging to the millet family. It is usually used as a rice substitute and considered as a healthier option than rice. In Gujrati, it is called moryo, and in Marathi, it is called Bhagar.

Although barnyard millet like any other millet is nutritionally superior to cereal, yet its utilization is limited.

Nutritional Composition

Moisture% 8-7
Protein% 10.5
Fat % 3-6
Total mineral% 2.0
Crude fiber% 6.6
Total carbohydrate% 68.8
Calorific value kcal/100gm 398.0
Total dietary fiber% 12.6
Soluble % 4.2
Insoluble% 8.4

Health benefits

Barnyard millet or Mordhan is a highly nutritional grain that offers so many health benefits, such as:

It is a fair source of protein which is highly digestible and excellent source of dietary fiber (including both soluble and insoluble fiber). this nutritional composition makes this an excellent food option for losing weight.
Low in carbohydrate contain and has a low GI index, so this is a perfect food option for diabetic people.
Gluten free (like all millet), that’s why considered as a great alternative food for people with gluten allergy.
Contain good amount of iron. There is 18.6 mg iron in 100 grams of raw millet. High iron contains make it a great food option for anemic people.

In India, it is considered as a “Fasting food” and has been eaten during Navratri, ekadashi and on other fasting occasions.

There are various great ways to use Mordhan as a fasting food.

Here, I am sharing one of my favorite recipes,“Mordhan Vrat Khichdi”.

Barnyard millet khichdi — Mordhan Khichdi

This recipe is really simple, tasty and quick. It takes only 15-20 minutes to make “Mordhan Khichdi”.

Barnyard millet fasting khichdi ( Mordhan Khichdi)

Ingredients

Mordhan or Barnyard Millet 1 cup
Potato ½ cup (washed, and cut in fine pieces)
Green chilies (3-4)
Tomato ½ cup finely chopped
Peanut (roasted and grinded )- 3-4 teaspoon or as per your taste
Oil (2-3 teaspoon)
Cumin seed (for tempering)
Red chili powder, coriander powder and salt (as per your taste)
Green coriander leaves (for garnishing)

Method

First take Mordhan or Barnyard millet in a bowl and washed it 2-3 times with clean water. This step is very important, otherwise it may taste slightly bitter.
Now, soak this for at least 20-30 minutes. Take 2-3 cup of clean water for soaking.
Cut the potatoes and finely chopped the green chilies.
Dry roast the peanuts and after cooling down, grind this as coarse powder (you may use whole peanuts, if you like)
Heat the oil and add cumin seed as tempering.
When cumin seeds get splutter, add green chili.
Wait for few minutes, when green chilly changes its color, add potato and peanut mixture.
As a next step, add dry spices (red chili powder, coriander powder and salt) and cover the lid for few minutes.
After few minutes, when potato become slightly tender, add Mordhan.
Now, add water (add approximately double water, means 2 cups here)
Cover the lid and wait for 10-15 minutes.
Stir in between once or twice.
Check, and when Mordhan grains get cooked, add finely chopped tomatoes and cook for 1-2 minutes.
After 2-3 minutes, turn off the gas. Your Mordhan Khichdi is ready to serve.
If you want liquid consistency, then add more water and if you like dry consistency add less water.
Garnish with green coriander leaves or grated coconut.
Serve with simple curd or cucumber raita.

Variations

You can use Mordhan in various other recipes too. Like Mordhan Pulav , follow all the steps that we use to make rice pulav, except use Mordhan instead of rice.
“Mordhan Kheer ” is another exciting recipe. The recipe is same as Sooji or Semolina kheer. You just need to replace Sooji with Barnyard millet.
You can add the variety of vegetables in “Mordhan khichdi recipe”. (I had shared “fasting recipe”, so added potato only, for routine use you can add other vegetables of your choice to make it healthier)
You can use “Barnyard millet flour” too and can make interesting recipes with this flour.

Special tip

Replacing routine grains ( like wheat and rice) with healthy ancient grains n( like millet, amaranth etc) is one of the most effective and easy way to make our routine diet healthy.

so, this is all for now.

I hope, you would like this recipe.

read the first post ( if you had missed) Amaranth Paratha

Stay tuned, tomorrow as “C”, will share another healthy and interesting recipe.

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photo credit: tiexano Sawa Dosa via photopin (license)

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