• Millet is a versatile grain that is considered a staple food in many parts of the world.
• It is naturally free from gluten.
• It can be used as an alternative to rice, pasta, cous cous or barley.

To Cook Plain Millet

The method below cooks millet in a similar way to rice. It can be used as an accompaniment to curry or in place of rice or pasta in salads, stir-fries or sauce-based dishes.

• Use one cupful per person.
• Pour the dry millet into a saucepan and turn up the heat.
• Toast until slightly browned and you can smell the aroma. (10 minutes).
• Cover with boiling water so that the water is 2 inches above the level of the millet.
• Place a lid over the saucepan.
• Simmer until the water is no longer visible (10-15 minutes).
• Turn the heat down to a minimum and leave to steam for 5-10 minutes.

Using Millet Like Barley

Millet can be used in place of barley in soups. Use the following method:

• Roast the millet in a dry pan, as per the recipe above. You can do this whilst the soup is coming to the boil.
• Add the millet to the soup and simmer for around 20 minutes.

Notes On "Browning The Millet"

The above methods pre-roast the millet in a dry saucepan. This releases the aroma and makes for a richer, nuttier taste. However, there are alternatives:

• Some people use a little oil in the pan when roasting the millet. This speeds up the heat transferrence and it cooks faster, but you have to be more careful not to overheat the oil/millet.
• Some people skip the pre-roasting altogether. The roasting doesn't make that much difference to the taste.

It's worth noting that, according to our research, most people do pre-roast the millet, and do so in a dry pan.

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