Good Food Guide: Eggless Foxtail Millet Frittatas

(This recipe won the author first place in the 'Savoury' category at the recently concluded Organics and Millets International Trade Fair 2018 in Bengaluru.)

The word "frittata" is Italian and roughly translates to "fried". It is made with fried beaten eggs and roughly resembles a thick, fluffy omelette that's often filled with ingredients such as meats, cheeses or vegetables to give the dish flavour and volume.

This recipe uses familiar ingredients from the Indian kitchen as stand-ins for egg and does away with the baking, making this the perfect recipe for a quick, easy and flavour-packed breakfast (or lunch and dinner) fix.

What you'll need

For the frittata batter

(makes 3 frittatas)

• 1 cup foxtail millets
• 1/2 cup chana dal
• 1/2 cup urad dal
• 1/2 cup moong dal

For the filling

• 1/2 cup finely chopped spinach
• 1/2 cup finely grated cabbage
• 1/2 cup finely grated carrot
• 1/4 cup finely chopped coriander leaves
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• Salt to taste

For the seasoning (batch-wise)

• 1 tablespoon cold pressed cooking oil
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon hing
• 6 curry leaves

Directions

Soak the millets and pulses together for 3 hours. Grind into a batter and allow to ferment for 12-15 hours, or overnight until it takes on the consistency of idli batter.

In the fermented dough, mix together all the vegetables and spices listed under 'Filling'.

To prepare the frittata, heat oil in a round, flat pan and sprinkle the sesame, mustard, hing and curry leaves. Ladle the batter over the seasoning and spread evenly to create i inch thick pancakes. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on low or medium flame for 10 minutes or until a knife inserted into it comes out clean. Turn the frittata and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Serve the frittatas with green chutney or ketchup. Each frittata can be cut into portions.

Repeat step 3 to make more frittatas.

[Every week, we feature recipes that use climate-friendly foods such as millets and native grains from across India. Have a recipe to share? Mail us at editor(at)earthamag(dot)org to be featured.]