Recipe: Bethica's Foxtail Millet Uttapam

Bethica Das would like you to start your day healthy with Foxtail Millet Uttapams. Once the batter is ready, this speedy breakfast takes less than 10 minutes to make and can be accompanied with any chutney of your choice and/or sambar.

"The wonder grain (foxtail millet) is both diabetic and heart-friendly," says the Sharjah-based food blogger. "It's a great substitute to rice and has a lot of health benefits and antioxidants."

She suggest you to go wild with your imagination and add toppings you never thought of before -- "For a non-vegetarian version, try boiled and shredded chicken or cooked kheema, sausages, etc."

Her millet uttapams can be feasted on for brunch, tiffin, tea-time, lunch or as a light dinner.

Millets are often featured in Bethica's recipes. Have you attempted creating her: Pongal With Lentils, Oats, Millets, Chicken Porridge With Millets or Millet Cutlets?

Foxtail Millet Uttapam

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 cup kangni or bhagar or foxtail/barnyard  millets
• ½ cup urad dal or husked split black gram
• ½ tsp methi or fenugreek seeds
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 1-inch piece ginger, roughly chopped
• Water
• Salt to taste, about ½ tsp 
• Oil, for frying the dosas

For the topping

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 2-3 tbsp green dhania or coriander or cilantro leaves, chopped

To serve

• Sambar
• Coconut chutney

Method

• Soak the foxtail millets, urad dal and fenugreek seeds in sufficient water overnight.
  In a blender, grind the millets, dal, methi, along with the green chillies and the ginger into a smooth paste.
  Add water, little by little, but make sure, you don't add too much water. 
  The batter should be of pouring consistency.
  Add the salt and mix well.
• In a bowl, mix together the chopped onion, tomato, green chillies and coriander leaves.
  Keep aside.
• To make the uttapams, heat a tawa or griddle over low heat.
  Drizzle 1 tsp of oil.
  Sprinkle a little water.
  After it sizzles and dries up, wipe dry.
  This gives a non-stick coating to the tawa and ensures the uttapams doesn't stick to the tawa.
• Pour a generous ladle of the batter onto the tawa and spread in a circular motion.
  Drizzle a little oil around the edges and over it and fry over medium heat for a minute or 2.
  Flip over and let it cook further for a minute.
  Sprinkle some of the onion-tomato mixture over the uttapam and fry over medium heat for a minute or 2 more.
  Take off heat. 
  Repeat the process to make the balance uttapams with the remaining batter. 
  Serve the uttapams hot with sambar and coconut chutney.

Editor's Note: To make sambar try Divya Nair's recipe for Traditional Sambar like my Amma's.

Try any of Mini Ribeiro's collection of chutneys or Mayur Sanap's Peanut Coconut Chutney.

Bethica Das is a Sharjah-based food blogger. Please do have a look her recipes here.