Millet
Millet is a small, round, gluten-free cereal grain that has been a staple across Africa and Asia for millennia, valued for its mild, slightly sweet flavor and versatility as both a fluffy side and a creamy porridge. This page covers buying, storing, and its traditional uses.
How to buy
Hulled millet is the form most commonly sold for cooking -- look for pale yellow, uniformly sized grains with no rancid or musty smell. Foxtail, pearl, and finger millet are different species used in different regional dishes, so check which type a recipe calls for.
How to store
Keep in an airtight container in the pantry for up to a year, or refrigerate/freeze in hot, humid climates. Cooked millet keeps in the fridge about 5 days and freezes well.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Mild and slightly sweet with a faint corn-like undertone; toasting the raw grains before cooking brings out more nuttiness.
- Texture
- Light and fluffy when cooked with a moderate amount of liquid, similar to rice, or creamy and porridge-like with more liquid and stirring, similar to polenta.
- Aroma
- A mild, faintly sweet, corn-like smell while cooking.
How to prepare
- Simmered fluffy — Cooked with a measured amount of liquid and left to steam, similar to preparing rice.
- Cooked creamy — Cooked with more liquid and stirred frequently for a porridge or polenta-like consistency.
- Toasted — Dry-toasted before simmering to bring out a deeper, nuttier flavor.
- Milled into flour — Ground into flour for flatbreads and pancakes.
Classic dishes
American
- Millet salad bowl — Cooked millet tossed with greens, nuts, and a vinaigrette, common on health-food menus.
- Millet breakfast porridge — Millet simmered with milk and topped with fruit as a gluten-free alternative to oatmeal.
Italian
- Millet polenta — A modern Italian-style use of millet cooked creamy like polenta and finished with butter and cheese.
Chinese
- Xiaomi zhou (millet congee) — A classic northern Chinese breakfast porridge of millet simmered soft in water, often with dates or sweet potato.
Indian
- Bajra roti — A flatbread made from pearl millet flour, a staple in Rajasthan and Gujarat, especially in winter.
- Ragi mudde — A dense dumpling of finger millet flour, a Karnataka staple traditionally eaten with spicy curries.
- Bajra khichdi — Pearl millet simmered with lentils and spices into a comforting one-pot dish.
- Millet upma — A savory breakfast dish where millet is tempered with mustard seed, curry leaves, and vegetables.
- Ragi dosa — A thin, savory pancake made from fermented or quick finger-millet batter.
- Millet idli — Steamed, fermented millet and lentil cakes, a lighter variation on the classic rice idli.
Mediterranean
- Millet pilaf with vegetables — Toasted millet simmered with broth and tossed with roasted vegetables and herbs.
Korean
- Japgokbap — A Korean multigrain rice dish that commonly includes millet alongside rice, beans, and other grains.
Middle Eastern
- Millet tabbouleh-style salad — A tabbouleh variation swapping bulgur for millet, tossed with parsley, tomato, and lemon.
Ethiopian
- Injera — A spongy fermented flatbread traditionally made from teff but often made with millet or sorghum where teff is scarce.
- Kitcha — A firmer, unleavened flatbread sometimes made with millet flour, served with spiced butter.