After years of talking about millets I realized I had only been using finger millet and more recently foxtail millet whereas there are so many more kinds of millet!  Was I ready to expand my millet horizons?

Well I took the first step and bought every variety of millet our local store stocked.  Sorghum (జొన్నలు) Kodo Millet (అరికెలు), Proso Millet (వరిగులు), Pearl Millet (సజ్జలు), Foxtail Millet (కొర్ర బీయము), Barnyard Millet (ఒడలు) . and Little Millet (సామ బీయము).  whew!  And of course our usual Finger Millet (రాగులు), sprouted. A few weeks later I saw that the finger millet was steadily depleting but the rest of the bags were lying serenely in the shelf.

So I decided to try making Arikalu Idlis (Kodo Millet Idlis).  To make the idli batter, I used 2 parts kodo millet and 1 part urad or urad dal.   Soak, grind, let ferment and prepare as usual.   Makes delicious dosas too!  And to show you how it is done, may I present Khiyali, host of the Young Person’s Cookery Show!

I have been hearing people like Dinesh of Earth 360 and Sunitha of AID Seattle saying that we should not be using only one type of grain for everything, and that all the dishes we make with rice, we can make with various millets, and though I believed them now I believe!

This recipe originally featured on AskAmma

You can also try this Kodo Millet Idlis recipe by Arun

About Kodo Millet

Kodo is very rich in dietary fibre and protein in addition to all the general millet characteristics (gluten-free, low glycemic index, high fibre, etc). It has a high antioxidant content and it is highly beneficial for diabetes patients.

Kodo Millet is called as Haarka (in Kannada), Arikelu (in Telugu), Varagu (in Tamil) and Kodon (in Hindi)

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Kodo Millet Idlis
Arikalu Idlis
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
24 idlis 30 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
24 idlis 30 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Kodo Millet Idlis
Arikalu Idlis
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
24 idlis 30 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
24 idlis 30 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: idlis
Instructions
  1. Soak the Kodo Millet rice and Urad daal in separate containers.
  2. Grind the two, adding water slowly so that you reach a fluffy idli consistency
  3. Let the batter soak for 8 hours (or overnight)
  4. Add salt to taste, mix properly and pour the batter into your idli moulds
  5. Cook in your preferred idli cooker or rice cooker. Serve hot and enjoy with chutney or chutney powder.
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