Millet and Chickpeas is a healthy and delicious meal with under 500 calories prepared using simple ingredients from your kitchen.
About the recipe
Millet with Chickpeas is a complete vegetarian meal that is good for your weight loss diet and a delicious no onion, no garlic recipe that is perfect for Navratri, Ekadashi vrat, upvas, or fasting.
Millet and chickpeas are both rich in protein and fiber, thus keeping you full for a longer time and controlling your appetite.
Ingredients
For Sama Ke Chawal (Millet)
2 ½ cups Water
1 cup Samo Rice (or any variety of millet )
½ teaspoon Salt
For the Chickpeas Stir Fry
1 tablespoon Oil
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
5 to 6 Curry leaves
2 Dry Red chilies
2 Green chilies (finely chopped)
1 cup Dried chickpeas (or use 2 to 3 cups of canned cooked chickpeas)
1 Carrot, boiled
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Coriander powder
¾ teaspoon Garam masala powder
1 teaspoon Salt
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoon Coriander leaves, finely chopped
How to cook Millet on the stovetop?
Bring water to boil in a pan.
Meanwhile, nicely wash and drain the millet in water. Add the millet along with salt and cover the pan with the lid. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until the millet is cooked through completely.
Chickpeas Stir Fry
I soaked dried chickpeas in water overnight and pressure cooked for 3 whistles the following day. You can use canned chickpeas if desired.
Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. To this, add cumin seeds and saute for a few seconds. Add curry leaves, red chilies, and green chilies, and continue to saute for a minute.
Add the chickpeas, chopped and boiled carrot, salt, coriander powder, garam masala powder, and lemon juice, and mix. Cook this on a medium flame for 4 to 5 minutes.
Finally, garnish it with coriander leaves and mix. Switch off the flame.
Serving Suggestion
This is a complete protein-packed meal under 500 calories. On a serving plate, add cooked millet, then top it with stir-fried chickpeas and enjoy.
Substitutes & Variations
- I have used barnyard millet, also called sama ke chawal or varai in India. You can use any variety of millet like foxtail, pearl, ragi, kodo millet, little millet, or quinoa. The steps in how to cook millet remain the same.
- Chickpeas are my favorite bean variety. You can use Kabuli chana or Kala chana, kidney beans (rajma), white beans, great northern beans, black beans, navy beans, etc.
- As I have prepared it for Navratri fasting, I have limited the vegetables to only carrots. You can also add cauliflower, broccoli, green peas, corn, spinach, or capsicum. Use any variety of veggie combinations to make your dish more nutritious and colorful.
- If you prepare it on regular days, you can also saute onion and garlic at the beginning of the recipe.
Some more chickpeas and millet recipe
- Healthy weight loss quinoa salad (popular on the blog)
- Chickpeas masala (Indian chole or chana masala)
- Barnyard millet pulao or khichdi
- Aloo Chana Chaat (Potato Chickpea salad)
- Chana Pulao (one pot rice)
Video
Full video recipe on making Samak chawal (how to cook millet) and stir-fried chickpeas.
How to cook millet on your instant pot
Add millet and 2 to 2 ¼ cups of water to your instant pot (IP).
Secure your IP's lid by ensuring the steam valve is sealed. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure. Carefully remove the lid once the steam has escaped.
Fluff millet with a fork and serve it with chickpeas stir fry.
For chickpeas stir fry in your IP, follow the same steps given above for the stovetop method, but remember to choose the SAUTE mode in your IP.
FAQ
The ratio of water to any millet will vary depending on the cooking method, i.e., stovetop, instant pot, rice cooker, or pressure cooker.
Plus, if you want millet grains to be separated once cooked, add a standard ratio that is 1 cup millet: 2 cups of water. For mushy porridge texture, increase water by another ¼ to ½ cup.
Also, remember you must increase water slightly if you add veggies while cooking millet.
The brand of millet you use, plus the flame's intensity, will also change the amount of water needed to cook millet.
Millet is rich in protein and fiber, which is more when compared to rice. Thus millet is considered a healthy substitute for rice.
Recipe card
Millet and Chickpeas | Sama Chawal and Chana - Fasting Recipe
Equipment
- 2 Pan
Ingredients
For Sama Ke Chawal (Millet )
- 2 ½ cups Water
- 1 cup Samo Rice (or any variety of millet )
- ½ teaspoon Salt
For the Chickpeas Stir Fry
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 5 to 6 Curry leaves
- 2 Dry Red chilies
- 2 Green chilies (finely chopped)
- 1 cup Dried chickpeas (or use 2 to 3 cups of canned cooked chickpeas)
- 1 Carrot , boiled
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Coriander powder
- ¾ teaspoon Garam masala powder
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoon Coriander leaves , finely chopped
Instructions
Cook Millet on the Stovetop
- First, bring water to boil in a pan.2 ½ cups Water
- While the water is coming to a boil, nicely wash and drain the millet in water. Add the millet along with salt and cover the pan with the lid. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until the millet is cooked through completely.1 cup Samo Rice, ½ teaspoon Salt
Chickpeas Stir Fry
- Soak dried chickpeas in water overnight. Pressure cook the soaked chickpeas for 3 whistles the following day. Let the pressure release naturally. Note: You can skip the cooking step if you are using canned chickpeas.1 cup Dried chickpeas
- Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. To this, add cumin seeds and saute for a few seconds. Add curry leaves, red chilies, and green chilies, and continue to saute for a minute.1 tablespoon Oil, 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds, 5 to 6 Curry leaves, 2 Dry Red chilies, 2 Green chilies
- Add the cooked chickpeas (drain off the water), chopped and boiled carrot, salt, coriander powder, garam masala powder, and lemon juice, and mix. Cook this on a medium flame for 4 to 5 minutes.1 Carrot, 1 teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon Coriander powder, ¾ teaspoon Garam masala powder, Juice of 1 lemon
- Finally, garnish it with coriander leaves and mix. Switch off the flame.2 tablespoon Coriander leaves
Serving suggestion
- This recipe serves 4. On a serving plate, add cooked millet, then top it with stir-fried chickpeas and enjoy. Each serving is a complete protein-packed meal under 500 calories.
Video
Notes
- I have used barnyard millet, also called sama ke chawal or varai in India. You can use any variety of millet like foxtail, pearl, ragi, kodo millet, little millet, or quinoa. The steps in how to cook millet remain the same.
- Chickpeas are my favorite bean variety. You can use Kabuli chana or Kala chana, kidney beans (rajma), white beans, great northern beans, black beans, navy beans, etc.
- As I have prepared it for Navratri fasting, I have limited the vegetables to only carrots. You can also add cauliflower, broccoli, green peas, corn, spinach, or capsicum. Use any variety of veggie combinations to make your dish more nutritious and colorful.
- If you prepare it on regular days, you can also saute onion and garlic before adding boiled chickpeas for stir-fry.
Nutrition
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