BENGALURU:As chefs, we see new ingredients all the time. Every day is a learning. Most importantly Indian ingredients which have not been used or seen are getting popular these days.
One of the ingredients that I find unique is Ragi-Finger Millet. It is found in Africa and Asia and is used all over in India. It is high on carbohydrates. The fat content in it is very less. It cools your body and provides lots of strength, controls diabetes. It is gluten free. It's flavour is very distinct, earthy and feels mouthful. It goes well with fatty ingredients like with the butter in a cookie or with ghee in khichdi.
But it is not very likable as it is very heavy. It is usually used in villages and rural areas and not very enjoyed in urban areas. To make it popular, we have to experiment in a way that it is fun and cool to eat millet. So we made a pancake batter with it and it worked well with the young and the old. I had to do at least make 10 to 12 attempts and trails to create pancake recipe because it can be very dense and needs the right quantity of other ingredients to make a successful yummy dish.
I learned how to work with millet. I mixed oats and ragi and created our signature pancake which are available in a variety of flavours at our #bigbawabreakfast at SBOW from April 15.
- Chef Anahita Dhondy, Chef Manager at SodaBottleOpenerWala