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 Our powers seem to be dying out with each passing day, as the sky is mostly covered in gray clouds. It does not let the life-giving sunlight pass through, the air is damp, and the food is not the same: vegetables and fruits slowly lose their nutrients, and we get little of them. Therefore, every caring housewife thinks and wonders what to cook in order to feed her household with healthy food. Wise nature has reserves in its pantry, which can be useful to us in the off-season.
There is also millet obtained from a cereal crop - millet. Millet, as well as other millet crops (chumiza, sorghum, African millet, Chinese millet) feed many people around the globe (China, Korea, the countries of the Middle East and Europe). And it is not surprising that many peoples have chosen this particular culture: it gives energy, strength, endurance (remember that during Great Lent, our people consumed millet foods as highly nutritious food). It was not in vain that the soldiers used millet in their field kitchen: the famous kulesh, which they flavored with lard or fish, malay - poured millet flour into boiling water, stirring it with a wooden "paddle". You can also remember the popular dish, which was called "grouse" or "ryaba" for its gray-yellow color. It was cooked in meat or fish broth, in fasting - on water: almost boiled soup was filled with liquid buckwheat or rye dough. Dressed with lard, crushed with onions and garlic, onions toasted in butter during the fast. Today such a culinary product seems strange, but the combination of different cereals was expedient, since they complemented each other with the necessary healing substances.
But back to millet. Its value lies in the fact that it contains the most protein among all cereals (10-12%), fat in it - 1-3%, and starch - 70-80%. Proteins contain essential amino acids. And also in millet, compared to other cereals, there are more vitamins of group B. These vitamins contribute to normal protein metabolism, therefore amino acids are well absorbed, together with enzymes they help the liver, spleen and pancreas, as well as the stomach (the fact that millet has relatively little fiber, good in case of some stomach diseases).
Vitamins have a positive effect on the condition of the skin, cardiac and nervous activity, and also ensure the processes of high-quality blood formation, in which follic acid is especially important, vitamin B9... There is twice as much of it in millet than in wheat, corn, rye. The diuretic properties of this cereal should also be noted, which is good in case of edema.
Millet stands out because it contains almost twice as much phosphorus as in meat. This substance, together with calcium and magnesium, is part of the bones, so millet foods promote the healing of fractures, strengthen soft tissues. And magnesium, together with potassium, normalizes the activity of the nervous system and heart muscle.
It is not worth talking about the role of iodine and zinc entering the body with millet, since everyone knows that zinc is extremely important for the growth of the child's skeleton, for the health of the reproductive system. Nutritionists prescribe a millet diet to people suffering from obesity (after all, cereals are digested for a long time and use the body's fat reserves), atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, and liver diseases. Therefore, millet was held in high esteem by our ancestors, because it gave health to both body and spirit, which means that it will give to us.
But scientists have discovered new properties of this cereal: to cleanse the body of poisons, antibiotics and their decay products. Therefore, it is recommended to consume millet (at least one meal a day) during the course of antibiotic therapy and for one to two weeks after.Today, many people suffer from allergies caused by wheat products. They can safely eat millet, which does not contain fiber.
Scientists in search of anticancer agents conducted a study on millet and isolated a substance that effectively delayed the development of the cancer process. Now the question can be posed: is it worth to bypass this cereal, replacing it with rice, as is often done? It does not have such a rich chemical composition, therefore, its beneficial effect on the body, of course, is less. This must be taken into account especially in baby food... And millet is also used to “warm up” the chest in case of a cold. They apply it (heat it up in a pan and put it in a linen bag) to the part of the nose as a medicine for a cold or to the cheek when a tooth hurts.
Delicious millet dishes
Kulesh... Wash the millet well, pour it into boiling water (1:10), put carrots, parsley, 2-4 potatoes, which, after being ready, grind. When the millet is completely boiled down, season the dish with crushed bacon with garlic and onions or cracklings, or onions fried in butter.
Millet porridge... Pour a glass of washed millet into boiling water (1.5-2 cups of water), add a teaspoon of oil or butter, salt. When the millet has absorbed the water, simmer in a hot oven. Serve with cracklings. Cold porridge is eaten with borscht and hot milk.
Millet pancakes... For 4 cups of water a glass of millet, 3 cups of wheat flour, 25 g of yeast, 1-2 tbsp., L. Sahara. Boil thin porridge, cool, add yeast, sugar and half of wheat flour. When suitable, add the remaining flour, salt. Put in a warm place. The dough should turn out to be liquid as for ordinary pancakes (if it thickens, add boiled water). Fry in oil. For fasting, you can serve it with honey, jam, mushroom sauce.
Asya Novikova
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