Getting millets back into an everyday Kerala kitchen

The argument for millets is usually made in the language of nutrition labels, which is a shame, because the actual reason to cook them is that they taste good and they behave differently to rice.

The easiest entry point is puttu. Swap a third of your usual podi for ragi flour and you get a darker, nuttier puttu that still steams exactly the same way. Nobody has to be told it is healthy.

The second easiest is porridge. Ragi flour, water, a pinch of salt, and a slow whisk over low heat — this is what most people in this state grew up on before packet cereal arrived.

One thing worth insisting on: washed and dryer-dried grain. Millet is small enough that field grit stays in it, and a lot of what is sold has been dried on a roadside. Washing and mechanical drying costs more and is the whole difference in the final flour.