Varagu_Spicy_Bread

 #VaraguSpicyBread  #KodoMilletSpicyBread :

#Varagu Or #Varagarisi is called #KodoMillet in English.

It is called #Arka in Kannada and #Kodon or Kodri in Hindi.

The scientific name is Paspalum scrobiculatum.

#Varagu is gluten free and non acid forming food just like any other millet.

The nutrients present in 100 gm of varagu is as follows :

Protein 8.3 g, Fiber 9.0 g, minerals 2.6 g, Iron 0.5 mg and Calcium 27 mg.

To know further go to Kodo Millet.

Previously I have used onion and prepared spicy masala by sauteing the ingredients in a kadai.

Here I have just made a masala mix by combining all the ingredients in a blender and added it to make the dough.

The millet has to be soaked for a minimum of two hours before cooking to reap the complete health benefits. And also soaking the millet before cooking helps the body to absorb its nutrients well.

The dough has to be allowed to stand for a minimum of 6 - 8 hours to ferment. So pre-planning is necessary and the process has to begin well in advance.

There are three stages involved in the making of spicy bread

1. Soaking and grinding :

#Varagu [ #KodoMillet ] has to be soaked for two hours. A small quantity of cooked varagu is required to make batter. The soaked varagu and cooked varagu are ground together using a mixer grinder into a smooth batter. The batter should be thick just like idli maavu consistency and transferred into a vessel. 

2. Fermentation of the batter :

Sugar, curd and salt are mixed with the batter and allowed to stand for 6 - 8 hours or the whole night. 

3. Combining fermented batter and ground masala to make the dough. Then steam cooking it in an idli pot.

Kindly keep in mind the time involved before beginning to make varagu [ Kodo millet ] spicy bread:

Soaking Time          : 2 hours

Fermentation Time  : 6 - 8 hours

Masala preparation  : 5 mins

Steam cooking time  : 15 - 18 mins

Ingredients :
1 cup	Varagu or Varagarisi [ Kodo millet ]
3 Tbsp	Cooked Varagu [ Kodo millet ]
1/2 Tsp	Salt [ adjust ]
5 Tsp	Sugar [ adjust ]
2 - 3 drops	Curd
1/4 Tsp	Baking soda
1/4 Cup	Carrot grated
1/4 Cup	Green gram sprouts [ optional ]
To Grind coarsely :
10 - 12	Black pepper
1 - 2	Green chilly
1 Tsp	Cumin seeds
1 Tsp	Fennel seeds [ saunf ]
1/2 Tsp	Coriander seeds
1/4 in. piece	Cinnamon
1	Star Anise
3	Cloves
8 - 10	Curry leaf
2 - 3 Tsp	Coriander leaf chopped
1 Tsp	Pudina dried [ Mint dried ]
1/4 Cup	Karpooravalli
2 - 3 pods	Garlic
1/2 inch	ginger
1/4 inch	turmeric tuber*

Gingelly oil [ sesame/til oil ]/ghee to apply

* If Turmeric tuber is not available then 1/4 Tsp of turmeric powder can be used.

The amount of curry leaf, coriander leaf, pudina and karpooravalli can be adjusted according to availability.

Method :

If I have planned to make spicy bread for breakfast, then I have to start the preparation the previous day evening itself.

 Previous Day Evening :

Take 1 cup of Varagu [ Kodo millet ]  in a big vessel. Rinse once with water and then add enough water to soak it.

Take 1 Tbsp of Varagu [ Kodo millet ] in a small cup and rinse once. Add 2 Tbsp of water.

Allow to stand for 1 hour. After an hour pressure cook using a cooker over high flame for a whistle and then reduce the heat and cook for 7 minutes. Open the cooker only after it ran out of steam.

After two hours combine soaked Varagu [ Kodo millet ] and 

cooked Varagu [ Kodo millet ] in a mixer grinder jar.

Grind into a smooth batter adding little water.

The batter should be of idli maavu consistency.

Transfer into a big vessel. 

There should be enough space above the surface of the batter 

as the volume would increase due to fermentation.

Add sugar, salt and curd. 

Mix well and close the vessel with a lid. 

Keep the vessel at a warm place in the kitchen to aid the fermentation.

The next day morning :

In the morning the batter would have fermented and raised up in volume.

Take all the ingredients necessary to make spicy masala in a mixie jar.

Grind coarsely and transfer into the vessel containing varagu batter.

Add grated carrot and green gram sprouts also into the vessel.

Mix well and adjust salt.

Add baking soda and crushed black pepper. Mix well.

Steam cooking :

Grease shallow plate/container with oil.

Pour in prepared dough into the greased plate/container till 3/4 of its height and tap gently to evenly spread the dough.

Heat Idli pot with 3 cups of water on a stove over high flame. Place the steamer plate inside the idli pot.

Place the plate containing dough over the steamer plate inside the idli pot.

Close the idli pot and cook for 12 - 15 minutes.

After 14 minutes insert a clean and dry knife from the top through the bread. 

If the knife comes out clean then the bread is ready.

Take out the plate from the idli pot.

If the knife comes out with dough sticking to it then cook for another 3 - 5 minutes.

The time taken to cook the dough depends on the volume of the dough filled in the plate/container.

In the same way steam cook rest of the dough in batches.

Apply 2 -3 drops of ghee/gingelly oil over the surface of the bread to avoid drying up.

Wait for five minutes to cool down considerably.

Cut into pieces.

Tasty N spicy Varagu spicy bread is ready to relish.

Enjoy your breakfast!!

No need of any side dish or chutney.

It can also be enjoyed either hot or cold as an evening snack with hot coffee.

Note :

Heat a kadai with a teaspoon of gingelly oil [ til/sesame oil ].

Crackle mustard seeds once oil starts fuming and add teared curry leaves, immediately turn off the stove.

Pour the tempering over the prepared varagu spicy bread to enhance its flavor a little bit more!!

You might also like to try

Samai spicy masala bread [ Little millet spicy masala bread ]	Kuthiraivaali sweet bread [ Barnyard millet sweet bread ]	Samai Arisi Thaengai Payasam
Kuthiraivaali Spicy bread [ Barnyard millet bread ]	Kuthiraivaali pasalai adai [ Barnyard millet spinach pancake ]	Samai Methy Pancake [ Little millet methy pancake ]

For other Varagu Recipes

Varagu - Kodo Millet Recipes

For spicy accompaniments

Chutney Recipes

Ideas for breakfast and dinner

Tiffin Recipes

Kuthiraivaali_Spicy_Bread

#KuthiraivaaliSpicyBread  #BarnyardMilletSpicyBread :

#Kuthiraivaali is known as #BarnyardMillet in English. It is called #Oodalu in Kannada. It is known as Bhagar or Varai in Marathi & Chhattisgarh.

#Kuthiraivaali is gluten free and non acid forming food.

The glycemic index of kuthiraivaali is low and thus beneficial for cardiovascular and Type 2 Diabetic patients.

The amount of Protein present in Kuthiraivaali is significantly higher than other millet varieties.

Kuthiraivaali is rich source of Iron and dietary fiber.

100 g of kuthiraivaali contains 11.2 g of Protein, 10.1 g of Fiber, 4.4 g of minerals, 15.2 mg of Iron and 11 mg of Calcium.

The millet has to be soaked for a minimum of two hours before cooking to reap the complete health benefits. And also soaking the millet before cooking helps the body to absorb its nutrients well.

The dough has to be allowed to stand for a minimum of 6 - 8 hours to ferment. So pre-planning is necessary and the process has to begin well in advance.

There are four stages involved in the making of spicy masala bread

1. Soaking and grinding :

#Kuthiraivaali [ #BarnyardMillet ] has to be soaked for two hours. A small quantity of cooked kuthiraivaali is required to make batter. The soaked kuthiraivaali and cooked kuthiraivaali are ground together using a mixer grinder into a smooth batter. The batter should be thick just like idli maavu consistency and transferred into a vessel. 

2. Fermentation of the batter :

Sugar, curd and salt are mixed with the batter and allowed to stand for 6 - 8 hours or the whole night. 

3. Preparation of vegetable masala.

4. Combining fermented batter and masala to make the dough. Then steam cooking it in an idli maker.

Kindly keep in mind the time involved before beginning to make kuthiraivaali [ Barnyard millet ] spicy bread:

Soaking Time          : 2 hours

Fermentation Time  : 6 - 8 hours

Masala preparation  : 15 mins

Steam cooking time  : 15 - 18 mins

Ingredients :
1 cup	Kuthiraivaali [ Barnyard millet ]
3 Tbsp	Cooked Kuthiraivaali [ Barnyard millet ]
1/2 Tsp	Salt [ adjust ]
5 Tsp	Sugar [ adjust ]
2 - 3 drops	Curd
1/4 Tsp	Baking soda
For Masala :
1/4 Cup	Carrot grated
1	Onion chopped nicely
10 - 15	Curry leaves
1 Tsp	Oil
1/2 Tsp	Cumin seeds
To Grind coarsely :
10 - 12	Black pepper
1 - 2	Green chilly
1 Tsp	Cumin seeds
1 Tsp	Fennel seeds [ saunf ]
1/2 Tsp	Coriander seeds
1/4 in. piece	Cinnamon
1	Star Anise
3	Cloves
8 - 10	Curry leaf
2 - 3 Tsp	Coriander leaf chopped
10 - 12	Pudina [ Mint ]
1/4 Cup	Karpooravalli
2 - 3 pods	Garlic
1/2 inch	ginger
1/4 inch	turmeric tuber*

Gingelly oil [ sesame/til oil ]/ghee to apply

* If Turmeric tuber is not available then 1/4 Tsp of turmeric powder can be used.

Method ;

If I have planned to make spicy bread for breakfast, then I have to start the preparation the previous day evening itself.

 Previous Day Evening :

Take 1 cup of Kuthiraivaali in a big vessel. Rinse once with water and then add enough water to soak it.

Take 1 Tbsp of kuthiraivaali in a small cup and rinse once. Add 2 Tbsp of water.

Allow to stand for 1 hour. After an hour pressure cook over high flame for a whistle and then reduce the heat and cook for 7 minutes. Open the cooker only after it ran out of steam.

After two hours combine soaked kuthiraivaali and cooked kuthiraivaali in a mixer grinder jar.

Grind into a smooth batter adding little water.

The batter should be of idli maavu consistency.

Transfer into a big vessel. 

There should be enough space above the surface of the batter 

as the volume would increase due to fermentation.

Add sugar, salt and curd. 

Mix well and close the vessel with a lid. 

Keep the vessel at a warm place in the kitchen to aid the fermentation.

The next day morning :

In the morning the batter would have fermented and raised up in volume.

Collect all the ingredients necessary to make spicy masala.

Put in all the ingredients to be ground into a mixie jar and coarsely grind & set aside.

Heat a kadai with a teaspoon of oil.

Crackle cumin seeds once oil starts fuming.

Immediately add onion and saute for half a minute.

Now add coarsely ground masala mix and salt.

Stir well till its raw smell goes off.

Finally add grated carrot and mix well.

Now spicy masala is ready. Add some chopped coriander leaves and turn off the stove.

Transfer into a bowl and let the prepared masala cool down to room temperature.

Steam cooking :

Grease shallow plate/container with oil and set aside.

Heat Idli pot with 3 cups of water on a stove over high flame. Place the steamer plate inside the idli pot.

Now combine the fermented batter and masala mix together adding baking powder. Mix well. 

Pour the prepared dough into the oil greased plate/container till 3/4th of its height.

Tap the plate gently to evenly spread the dough.

Place the plate containing dough inside the idli pot over the steamer plate.

Close the idli pot and cook for 12 - 15 minutes.

After 14 minutes insert a clean and dry knife from the top through the bread. If the knife comes out clean then the bread is ready.

Take the plate out from the idli pot.

If the knife comes out with dough sticking to it then cook for another 3 - 5 minutes.

The time taken to cook the dough depends on the volume of the dough filled in the plate/container.

In the same way steam cook rest of the dough in batches.

Apply 2 -3 drops of ghee/gingelly oil over the surface of the bread to avoid drying up.

Wait for five minutes to cool down considerably.

Cut into pieces.

Tasty N spicy Kuthiraivaali spicy bread is ready to relish.

Enjoy your breakfast!!

No need of any side dish or chutney.

It can also be enjoyed either hot or cold as an evening snack with hot coffee.

You might also like to try

Samai spicy masala bread [ Little millet spicy masala bread ]	Kuthiraivaali sweet bread [ Barnyard millet sweet bread ]	Samai Arisi Thaengai Payasam
Kuthiraivaali Sundal [ Barnyard millet Sundal ]	Kuthiraivaali pasalai adai [ Barnyard millet spinach pancake ]	Samai Methy Pancake [ Little millet methy pancake ]

For other Kuthiraivaali Recipes

Barnyard Millet Recipes

For spicy accompaniments

Chutney Recipes

Ideas for breakfast and dinner

Tiffin Recipes

Samai-Sweet-Bread

#SamaiSweetBread :

#Samai or #SamaiArisi is called #LittleMillet in English. This cereal belongs to minor millet variety. The size of each grain of samai is the tiniest one among millet. That could be the reason to call it Little Millet in English. It is known as kutki in Hindi and Same in Kannada.

Generally millet are gluten free and non acid forming food.

100 grams of Samai [ Little millet ] has 7.7 gm of Protein, 7.6 gm of Fiber, 9.3 mg of  Iron [ 72% 0f daily value ] and 17 mg of Calcium. Other than these minerals it is also rich in Phosphorous [  220 mg 31 % of daily value ] and Magnesium.

To know more go to :  Nutrients of Millet

To know on samai go to : Samai Arisi

I am regularly using different types of millet in my daily diet. I have been making Pongal, Upma and sometimes mixed Rice from millet. But I wanted to try new tasty dishes from millet. Recently I made masala bread and it turned out to be a tasty delight. But the main drawback of the dish is that the dough has to be fermented for 6 - 8 hours. It requires pre-planning and the time involved happens to be longer. 

My mind was kept on thinking on how to make a sweet version of masala bread. When I made spicy masala bread and browntop millet bread, I learned that the cooked grains of millet acts as a binding agent for the dough as the cereals of millet are gluten free. And also fermentation of dough is necessary to make the dish soft & fluffy. First I ground soaked millet and cooked millet. Then allowed to ferment the whole night and steam cooked the next day morning. The taste was good and also the bread was soft. But my taste buds could find out slight sour taste. Then I tried with curd and baking powder to make a steamed sweet bread. The bread thus made without fermentation was palatable but the taste of curd was a drawback and also it wasn't come out soft.

When I was editing some posts from this blog, I came across the recipes of rawa Idli [ Sooji idli ] and broken wheat [ dahlia ] idli. One particular ingredient is being added to make rawa idli very soft. So I decided to combine the method of making Browntop millet bread and rawa Idly [ Sooji idli ]. The dish thus born surprised me and my husband. The dish brought out the aroma of that particular millet and the sweet was subtle and able to satisfy our taste buds. The taste  reminds us of our traditional sweet, Puttu. 

Kindly read on to know the magic ingredient that helped me to prepare a delicious Samai Sweet bread without fermentation.

The preparation involves two stages

• Soaking and grinding
• Steam cooking the prepared dough

Soaking Time                   : 2 hours

Preparation Time             : 15 - 20 mins

Steam cooking Time       : 15 - 18 mins

Ingredients :
3/4 Cup+1 Tbsp	Samai [ Little Millet ]
1/3 Cup	Coconut scrapings
1/4 Cup	Sugar [ adjust ]
1/4 Tsp	Salt
5 - 6	Dried Dates [ Raisins ]
8 - 10	Dried grapes [ kismis ]
2 - 3	Cardamom
a small piece	Nutmeg [ optional ]
1/4 Tsp	Cinnamon powder [ optional ]
1 Tsp	Fennel [ Sounf ]
1 Sachet [ 5 g ]	Eno Fruit salt

1/2 Tsp of ghee to grease the steaming vessel/pan.

Method :

Soaking and Grinding :

Take 3/4 cup of Samai in a vessel and wash once with water.

Soak in water for two hours.

Take 1 Tbsp of samai in a small bowl and rinse it with water once. Soak it with 2 Tbsp of water for 1 1/2 hours. After 1 1/2 hours pressure cook in a cooker for a whistle at HIGH and then reduce the flame to SIM and cook for 7 minutes.

Take out the cooked samai after the pressure cooker ran out of steam. Let it cool down to room temperature.

Then take soaked samai and 2 tablespoon of cooked samai in a mixie jar and blend together with little water into a coarse batter. Transfer into a big vessel. Add 1 Tsp of water into the mixie jar and clean to get the batter sticking on the inner surface of the jar. Add washed water also into the vessel containing batter.

Add sugar and salt. Mix well.

Preparing Dough :

Grease a flat bottomed shallow vessel/pan with ghee/oil and keep aside.

Finely chop dried dates [ raisins ] and set aside.

Take 1 Tsp of sugar, cardamom and nutmeg in a mortar and pound into a smooth powder with pestle.

Keep aside a small amount of chopped dried dates to decorate at the top. Add rest of them into the batter.

Now add fennel, cardamom-nutmeg powder, cinnamon powder [ optional ] and coconut scraping into the vessel containing batter. Mix well and then check the sweetness of the dough and if required add 2 to 3 Tsp of sugar.

The dough should be of idli maavu [ Idli batter ] consistency.

Finally add Eno fruit salt and mix well. The fruit salt produces lots of air bubbles in the dough and the volume of the dough slightly increases.

Steam Cooking the dough :

Heat an idli maker with three cups of water on a stove over high flame. Place the steamer plate in the slot inside the idli maker.

Pour the prepared dough into the greased vessel and tap gently to spread out evenly.

Sprinkle chopped dates and kismis over the batter.

Place the vessel/pan with dough over the steamer plate once the water starts boiling in the idli maker.

Close the idli maker with its lid and cook for 14 minutes.

After 14 minutes open the lid.

Now insert a clean and dry knife or toothpick into the bread.

If it comes out clean then the bread is ready and remove the vessel from the idli maker.

If not steam cook for another 2 - 3 minutes.

Remove the steamed bread from the idli maker.

Keep over the kitchen platform or on a table to cool down. Allow to stand for ten minutes.

After ten minutes slice the prepared bread with a clean and dry knife.

The bread thus made is so soft and it may crumble and fall off if not careful.

Enjoy tasty tasty soft samai sweet bread!! 

mm... Ahaaa.... wow!! smelling great with coconut & samai arisi's aroma!!

The pieces can be stored in an airtight container after the pieces completely cool down to room temperature.

The bread remains good for a day.

Note :

Add only two tablespoon of cooked samai while grinding batter in the mixie. Otherwise the bread would become sticky. If some left over cooked samai is there then consume it with sambar, rasam or curd.

The bread can be prepared without adding coconut scrapings also. The same measurement of ingredients holds good.

You might also like to try

Samai Arisi Pongal [ Little millet Pongal ]	Broken Wheat Idli [ dalia Idli ]	Samai Arisi Thaengai Payasam
Samai spicy masala Bread [ Little millet Bread ]	Browntop millet Bread	Samai Methy Pancake [ Little millet methy pancake ]

For other Samai Recipes

Samai [ Little Millet ] Recipes

Millet Recipes

Millet Special recipes

Sweet Varieties