A healthy spread with millets

Be it evening snacks, a heavy lunch, or the way vegetables are cooked, those with diabetes can look at alternative ingredients and menu for a healthier diet.

Chef Damu shared recipes, demonstrated cooking of millet varieties and clarified doubts of the participants at a programme organised on Wednesday in the city by Dr. Rajendran’s Diabetes Centre. They also got to taste varieties of millet-based food, including dosa and vada, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

As part of the World Diabetes Day programmes, the centre had a day-long event to create awareness on diet. It organised at Meenakshi Hall cookery contest, interaction with Chef Damu and demonstration of cooking with millets.

“So far we have focused on wheat-based food as a substitute for rice. This year, we have focused on millets,” says V. Rajendran, chief diabetologist of the centre. There are a lot of benefits with millet. It not only controls blood sugar level, but also gives satisfaction of eating. The nutritional content is high in millets, he says.

Hence, food made of millets and herbs were served to all those who participated in the programmes organised at the hall on Wednesday.

Those who participated in the cookery contest brought the recipe and demonstrated how millets can be used as daily food. Boards with details of benefits of millets were also displayed.

According to Chef Damu, the public are aware of millets and health benefits of these. Millets are tasty and it is possible to make several varieties, even non-vegetarian dishes using millets. These have less starch and do not consume much oil. Special items such as soup or porridge can be prepared for children using millets, according to their taste requirements, he says. He demonstrated cooking of lemon rice and masala rice with millets.