Panicum sumatrense: Kutki Millet

Anar Kutki

Ingredients

• Kutki millet: 2 cups
• Water: 6 cups
• Rock salt: 1½ tsp
• Ghee: 4 tbsp
• Tejpatta: 4
• Cumin seeds: 1½ tsp
• Almonds (soaked for 5 -6 hours, with skin removed): 16        
• Pumpkin seeds: 2 tbsp
• Black pepper corn (freshly pounded): 1 tsp            
• Green peas (boiled): 1 cup                      Green chilies (slit): 4              
• Ginger (grated): 4 tbsp           
• Fresh pomegranate juice: 1 cup

Method

Pour pomegranate juice into a saucepan, bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat. Stir cook on low heat till the volume halves. Remove from heat (reduced pomegranate juice may be stored for a month in an airtight glass bottle in the fridge). Take kutki millet in a pot, wash thoroughly and drain well. Add 1 teaspoon of rock salt and soak in 6 cups of warm water for 6-7 hours. Drain kutki well, put in a pot, add water, mix and place on medium heat. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the water is almost absorbed but the kutki is well moist. Cover, reduce the heat to lowest, simmer until kutki is well-cooked. Remove from heat and let it settle for 5-6 minutes. Gently fluff it with a fork and transfer it to a tray to cool. Heat ghee in a karahi (wok), add tejpatta and cumin seeds, and sauté until fragrant. Add almonds and pumpkin seeds, and sauté for a second. Add black peppercorn and green chilies and sauté some more. Remove from heat. Add cooked kutki millet, the reduced pomegranate juice and mix well on a low heat gently. Check salt. Remove tejpatta and serve warm alongside curd mixed with fresh pomegranate seeds.

— Manjit S Gill, Former corporate chef, ITC Hotels and Founder-President, Indian Federation of Culinary Associations