After shifting to this new place I got introduced to all small grains (siru dhaanya vagaigal) of Tamilnadu. Myself and Amma have tried a set of recipes and now have tried them with Varagu (Kod millet), Saamai (little millet), Thinai (Fox tail Millet) and Kudhirai Vaali.
All these grains were available in almost all grocery shops in the southern part of Tamilnadu. People are used to eat it as rice with different Gravies/Kulambus. But I did found them more blonde and hence they need a much spicy kulambu to eat with. Hence I started trying out other type of recipes. Long back I have added a sweet fritter with Fox tail millet.
Now I have added a Kozhukattai (steamed dumpling) with Saamai arisi and surprisingly it tasted very nice and almost equivalent to the rice kozhukattai. Only slight variation to the method and amount of water.
I would now post a series of all my successful attempts under “Siru Dhaanya Samayal” category.
Saamai arisi kozhukattai / Little millet steamed dumplings
Ingredients needed:
Saamai arisi / Little millet – 1 Cup (Use the one with the skin removed)
Onions chopped – 3/4 Cup
Green chillies chopped – 1 Table spoon
To Season :
Peanut oil – 3 Table spoon
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tea spoon
Chana dal – 1/4 Cup
Urad dal – 1 Table spoon
Asafoetida – 1/2 teaspoon (powdered)
How to make ?
Wash the Saamai arisi in 2 changes of water. Don’t wash it until the water runs clear as it removes the essential nutrients. Soak this for 1/2 hour. Grind it to a coarse paste. Add 1 Cup of water and mix well. Keep this aside.
Heat a thick bottomed kadai and add the oil. Add the items under “To season” in the same order and fry till the dals get golden. Now add the chopped onions and chillies and saute in low flame till the onions turn translucent. Sprinkle 1/2 tea spoon of salt and mix well. Now pour the saamai arisi batter and cook in low flame with constant stirring. Just turn the contents for 1 minute and the batter would turn a dim white color. One you do not see white streaks switch off the stove and cool it under a fan. Once the dough is warm enough to touch apply little oil in your palms and make small balls (size of a ping-pong ball). Once you make balls of all the dough (Until you do this keep the dough covered so that it does not become dry) arrange them in an oiled plate and steam cook them for 20-25 minutes.
Serve them warm with a chutney or you can eat them as it is. It tastes great!
Amma's special... 
-please teach us more dishes especially how to make a simple rice for each grain and which curry it can be eaten with. like some rices go well with milk based curries some go well with tamarind based curries.
-why you cooked it without the skin? isn’t that where all the nutrients are?
I just read this comment on someone’s blog. Can you please write a comment on it and where to get the unpolished ones or
how to process it at home ourselves so the nutrients are in tact unlike machine processed ones and how it was eaten unpolished traditionally?
“In super markets you will get the branded/ certified millet products. Most of the companies sell only the polished millets as it looks white just like rice varieties. Eating polished millets does not provide any nutritional benefits. It is just like eating the polished rice.
My request to all the readers is to search for the organic shops in your localities where you can get the unpolished millets without impurities.”