Saatvik Lemon Millet | Lemon-y Kodo Millet | Millet Mania

Lemon rice or Elumichai Sadam reminds me of the delicious prasadam I'd be eyeing hoping for a second helping, on my visits to ISKCON. This easy No-Onion-No Garlic-Recipe is made during all auspicious festivals in South India and is an integral part of the prasadam in the temples there. Also prepared during Navratri, it is offered to the deity as naivedyam. It is made even during Seemantham (South Indian Baby Shower Ceremony) as part of the 9 rice varieties that is traditionally cooked for the expecting mother.

I am yet to meet someone who doesn’t like this no-time-consuming dish that can be made with leftover rice from the previous night or with freshly cooked rice and tastes best when served at room temperature. Another bonus is that it doesn’t require any side dish.

So on those days when you are feeling lazy and don't feel like spending much (or any) time in the kitchen (today being one of those days for me), here's a crunchy, flavourful, simple dish that you can rustle up in no time. Just throw some poppadoms on the side and your meal is ready!

If you talk about Ayurveda friendly meals or Sattvik food, Lemon rice fits the bill perfectly. It contains Lemon, Turmeric Powder, is cooked in coconut or sesame oil, doesn’t contain onion or garlic, is low on spices, and easily digested because of the key ingredient “rice” which is gluten-free. Hing or asafoetida is added to the recipe which can be easily skipped for a 100% gluten-free version. 

As promised, I’ve replaced the rice with one of the millets and bring to you Lemon-y Kodo Millet, a quick n easy, aromatic-ly inviting meal!

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup kodo millet 

• 1 ½ cups water

• 1 tbsp oil 

• ½ tsp mustard

• 1tb sp chana dal

• 1tbsp urad dal

• Handful of peanuts 

• Few cashews split 

• Pinch of hing/ asafoetida

• 1 green chili slit

• 1 red chilli broken

• 1/4 tsp turmeric / haldi

• 1 tsp ginger grated

• 1 sprig curry leaves

• 1 Medium to large lemon 

• Salt to taste

Step by Step Lemon Millet Recipe:

Wash the millets thoroughly and soak them for 30 minutes as this aids the cooking process.

Add the millets with water in 1:3 ratio in a pan with little pink Himalayan salt and cook on medium flame until the water is absorbed. when there is little moisture, cover and cook on low flame until soft and tender. Fluff up gently with a fork. Let the millets cool down completely. 

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow to splutter. Add channa dal, urad dal, red chili and green chilli. If you don't want your millets to be too spicy, remove the seeds from green chili or add it little later with grated ginger. 

Add cashew nuts and peanuts and fry everything till the dals turn golden in colour. 

Add curry leaves and ginger and saute till the leaves become a little crisp and release their flavour. 

Add turmeric powder and asafoetida. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of water. This helps to release the aroma of the spices and also softens the dal. 

Turn off the heat. Add the cooled millets. Squeeze the lemon juice. 

Once you've got your millets cooked, your spices and nuts tempered, and your juice squeezed, all you need to do is mix it all together and season it. Garnish it, if you want, with some fresh coriander leaves and you're all set.

Relish your lemon millet with curd, pickle, papad or koshambri (a typical outh Indian salad).

One note I'd like to add here, is to not add any warm Indian spices — garam masala spices to your lemon rice. The flavors of cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon, as wonderful as they are in so many Indian recipes, will overwhelm the delicate flavor of your lemon rice.

Millets are one of the healthy whole grains that apart from being gluten free are also alkaline in nature and helps to reduce digestive problems. I have used kodo millet for this recipe, however you can also use foxtail millet, little millet, or barnyard millet. 

If you try this easy-breezy recipe and enjoy the taste, do leave your feedback in the comments.