Of the millets my parents gave me, samai (Little millet in English, Kutki in Hindi, Sama in telugu, Same in Kannada, Chama in Malayalam) is the last one to try. One day I was craving to have pongal, but wanted to try with millets. So tried my hands with samai. It came out really superb. I used to make our regular pongal this way, i.e; temper directly in pressure cooker and cook all together for pongal – my mom’s way. Its been a long time since I made this way. My mom never adds turmeric anyways. But I added. If you want to replace rice in your diet, this is one of the best option to make pongal. You hardly will know its not rice.
Samai/ Little millet pongal recipe
Recipe Cuisine: Indian | Recipe Category: Breakfast
Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook time: 20 mins | Serves: 2
Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook time: 20 mins | Serves: 2
Ingredients
Samai / Little millet – 1/2 cup
Moong dal / Payatham paruppu – 2 tblsp
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece, crushed
Turmeric – 1/8 tsp
Ghee – As needed
Moong dal / Payatham paruppu – 2 tblsp
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece, crushed
Turmeric – 1/8 tsp
Ghee – As needed
To temper
Ghee – 2 tsp
Pepper (Black whole pepper) – 1 tsp
Jeera – 3/4 tsp
Green chilli – 1
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Asafoetida/ Hing – A pinch
Pepper (Black whole pepper) – 1 tsp
Jeera – 3/4 tsp
Green chilli – 1
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Asafoetida/ Hing – A pinch
Method
- Heat a small pressure cooker with ghee, first pop pepper, add jeera the other ingredients together (green chilli slit) and give a stir. Add ginger, moong dal and fry for a minute. Wash samai, add it into the cooker. Mix well.
- Add 2 cups water, salt and mix well. Bring to boil and close the cooker, give 4 whistles in medium flame. Once done, let the pressure release by itself. Open and mash well.
Notes
- For 1/2 cup samai, 2 cups water is perfect, so do not hesitate to add.
- If its too dry, mix 1/8 cup hot water and mix.
Serve hot with ghee topped if desired, with sambar and coconut chutney.
Happily finish tat full bowl….thnx for sharing
healthy pongal…looks yum…
hi is it the same as rajgira.if not can i try with rajgira ?..want to try this..really your family is blessed..you keep teaching us more and more healthy yummy recipes.
It's tempting
Nice one. Can you please post recipes using cholam
Lovely raks tempting tempting tempting ….tomorrow breakfast decided
Going to try this tomorrow.
Tried this today..came out best…all of us loved d flavour…thnx…
Do we have to soak the little millet overnight?
Dehusked millet is just like rice. No need to soak
Made samai pongal for breakfast today by following your recipe. It turned out excellent. The proportions and cooking time are perfect. Thanks for another terrific recope
Thanks a lot for your feedback 🙂