Demand grows for healthy millet dishes

Madurai: Snacks made using millets tingled the taste buds of those who visited the three-day traditional food festival, which is underway in the city. The food festival, organised by the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme, was inaugurated by minister Sellur K Raju on Friday.
Speaking at the function, the minister said that chief minister J Jayalalithaa aims to eliminate malnutrition among children."Food eaten by our ancestors is the most nutritious and best suited for us. It is time to go back to our roots and start consuming the food that we have forgotten about," the minister said.
It is important that the present generation is informed of the nutritious food varieties so that the future generation may live a disease-free life, minister RB Udayakumar said. "Our forefathers led a healthy life due to the healthy food they consumed. Millets were our traditional food grains that we should popularise and also start consuming in large quantities. The low-glucose content in millets make them a health diet for the elderly, as well as children. They are also rich in minerals," he added.
A huge crowd thronged the food festival venue on Saturday evening, eager to learn more about millets. "I always wanted to learn to cook millets and the dietitians at the event taught me how. I did not know that almost everything could be made with millets," said M Shanthi of Alagappan Nagar.
The visitors, particularly women, were astounded to learn that millets can be used to make a variety of dishes including halwa, kolukattai, puttu, paniyaram and even vada. "Making idiyappan is also easy if the dough is mixed in the correct consistency," T Vanitha, a homemaker, told TOI.