10 different types of millet and how to use them

Millets are a grain from the grass family Poaceae and can be classified as an ‘ancient grain’, in fact the cultivation of millets predates that of other grains such as wheat. It is grown widely in Africa, particularly in West Africa, and Asia. While today, millets, at least in the developed world are often considered nothing more than cattle feed, they are coming back into fashion as an easily digestible, gluten-free, nutritious and easy to grow food.

Millets are drought and disease resistant and and grow in places where less hardy grains can’t. For this reason the UN General Assembly declared 2023 the International Year of Millets to promote them as a solution to alleviating hunger.

Basque World Culinary Prize winner Fatmata Binta is working with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on the #IYM2023 Global Chefs Challenge, in order to promote the use of millets in daily cooking. She is challenging chefs, cooks and foodies to try cooing with millets and to share their ideas on recipes with the tags @FAO, #IYM2023 and #YearofMillets.  

While chef Binta is a proponent of fonio, a millet she grew up eating there are many that people can use. 

Here are 10 different types of millets and how to use them.

Sorghum millet

Sorghum is known as jowar in India where it is widely cultivated, especially in Maharashtra and Karnataka, but it is also grown in Central America, South Asia and Africa. It is a grain that is often used for baking and especially flatbreads and cakes, or ground down to a meal for porridge but it can be made into a syrup and used as a sweetener. Many countries use it as fodder and for ethanol production. It is known as the 'fifth most important cereal crop in the world.'

Pearl millet

Pearl millet is an ancient grain that has been cultivated in Africa and Asia since prehistoric times. Today it is still found in the Sahel region of Africa, where it is believed to have been domesticated. In India, pearl millet is used to make bhakri flatbread or boiled to make a Tamil porridge called kamban choru or kamban koozh. It is usually ground into a flour to make flatbreads, which can be found in their many iterations all over the world. In Namibia is sometimes fermented to make a drink called ‘ontaku’ or ‘oshikundu.’

Foxtail millet

Foxtail millet, sometimes called Italian millet, is the second most grown variety of millet and widely cultivated in Asia. This millet is high in Vitamins A and E, phosphorous and potassium, and rich in fibre. It is usually used in baking flatbreads and cakes, in south India it is used to make lemon rice, where they also use it to make a foxtail millet kheer dessert.

Finger millet

A very hardy crop grown in Africa and Asia where it does well in arid and semi-arid regions. It has a wide range of uses like in puddings, porridges, breads and cakes. In Nepal the flour is fermented to make beer and the stalks are used for fodder. In India, finger millet is called ragi, where it is malted and ground into flour. The flour is mixed with milk, boiled water, or yoghurt for consumption and also made into flatbreads, including thin, leavened dosa and thicker, unleavened roti.

Fonio millet

Fonio, also known as findi or acha, is an ancient grain that is grown across a swathe of North and West Africa. It is drought and disease resistant and highly nutritious. Fonio can be arduous to process and it is therefore an underused cereal crop but efforts are underway to promote its use across the world. Like other millets it can be used as a flour in breads, rolls and cakes, but it is also served in similar way to couscous. It is easy to cook, delicious and nutritious.

Browntop millet

Browntop millet is traditionally grown in India where it has been used to make sweet desserts. Today it is grown for a variety of reasons, including for fodder, or to combat soil erosion or desertification.  This millet is another so-called superfood and is rich in proteins, healthy fats, carbs, and dietary fibre. Browntop millet is often used in food manufacturing and goes into cereals, snacks and baked goods. 

Little millet

Little millet thrives on the temperate climates of south Asia, the Caucasus, China and India. It is particularly good at growing in areas of low rainfall. It is often cooked like couscous and served in India in an upma, mixed with vegetables. It is both a breakfast and dinner dish on the subcontinent. 

Buckwheat millet

Buckwheat is one of the most well-known and widely used millet grains. Like amaranth and quinoa it is actually a seed, although it has the nutritional and cooking properties of a grain. In Italy, buckwheat is used to make pizzoccheri, a type of wholewheat pasta served in the north with cheese and cabbage. 

Amaranth millet

Amaranth is a pseudo-grain native to Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Bolivia, and was once a staple food of the Aztecs. In India it is used as a grain substitute that is permissible during the Hindu fasts of Navratri and Shravan. Rich in protein, dietary fibre, pantothenic acid, B-vitamins, iron, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium and manganese, it is gluten-free and easy to cook. It can be boiled, like rice, ground into a gluten-free flour for baking, popped like popcorn or made into a nutritious porridge.

Kodo millet

Kodo millets originated in West Africa, but today are also grown in Nepal, India, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. In India is often cooked as a pilau or pilaf and substituted for rice. It can also be made into a payasam or kheer, a kind of wet pudding. As a versatile millet it can be ground into flour and used to make many dishes such as dli, dosa, pongal, khichdi, snacks, porridge, biscuits and noodles.