Sticky Millet Cake (Foxtail Millet Boiled in Banana Leaf)
Prep 10 min · Cook 45 min · Serves 12
Make
Ingredients
- foxtail millet flour — 500 g
- salt or sugar (to taste)
- water (enough for a thick mixture)
- banana leaves (for wrapping; named in the method)
Method
- Mix the foxtail millet flour with salt or sugar, whichever you prefer, and add water gradually until you have a thick mixture.
- Divide it into portions of 100 to 150 g each. Wrap every portion in a piece of banana leaf and tie it closed.
- Lower the parcels into a large pot of water at a rolling boil and boil them for 40 minutes.
- Lift them out, unwrap and serve with tea.
Tips
- General practice: wrap the parcels snugly and tie them firmly so water cannot get in while they boil.
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, Shree Anna (Millets) Recipes, PDF p. 127 (printed p. 113), written in our own words.