Amaranth and Carrot Cheela
Prep 20 min · Cook 15 min · Serves 2
Make
Ingredients
- amaranth flour — 60 g
- carrot — 100 g
- onion — 50 g (chopped)
- coriander — 5 g (chopped)
- red chilli and salt (as per taste)
- ginger — 5 g (chopped)
- water (for a pouring batter)
Method
- Cook the carrot in a pressure cooker, cool it and mash it to a smooth paste.
- Whisk the amaranth flour with the carrot paste and enough water to make a pouring batter.
- Stir in the onion, ginger, coriander, chilli and salt.
- Pour a ladleful onto a hot pan, spread it out and cook until set and lightly browned on both sides. Serve with coconut chutney.
Fresh atta: grind small, use soon
- Millets keep for months as whole grain; flour is best ground as it is needed, because it turns rancid. (FAO, Sorghum and millets in human nutrition (1995))
- Bajra changes fastest: its grain stores for months, but its milled flour has a very short shelf life. (ICAR-IIMR scientists, Food Chemistry Advances (2023) (DOI 10.1016/j.focha.2023.100190))
- In an Indian study, untreated bajra flour stayed within the quality limit only about 2 days at room temperature. (ICAR-IARI, Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences (2016))
- Ragi flour keeps better than foxtail, barnyard or bajra flour (it carries less fat). (Planta (2024), review)
- Keep atta closed and cool: bajra flour kept best in polythene and worst in gunny sacks; grains should be dry and in airtight containers. (Chaudhary & Kapoor, J Sci Food Agric (1984); ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines (2024) (DOI 10.1002/jsfa.2740351113))
- Going off shows first as smell and taste — sour, musty or dusty, then bitter. (Lai & Varriano-Marston, Cereal Chemistry (1980))
So: buy the grain, grind a week’s worth at a time — less for bajra in summer.
Recipe from FSSAI, Healthy Recipes for Defence, PDF p. 52 (printed p. 50), written in our own words.