When following a gluten-free diet, breakfast can be difficult, dissatisfying, and expensive. For many years, I've been appeasing a formidable appetite with a simple millet-based breakfast that I have developed over time. I find it sustains my savage metabolism for at least four hours. With a little help and interest provided by additional ingredients, this recipe provides a breakfast that I do not dread in the morning. It is tasty, healthy, filling, affordable, and leaves me feeling good.

 

Why millet?

Millet is not only gluten-free, but is also a superior grain. It is high in protein and minerals such as calcium and iron, and is one of only a couple of grain species that are alkali-forming. This means that when you've digested it, the breakdown products will yield a net alkaline contribution to your body, like most vegetables and fruit, and unlike dairy products, meat, and most grains. Some people say that this acid/alkali balance affects your digestive processes, your bone density, and other aspects of your health. Millet is reportedly beneficial for joints and connective tissue as well.

On the downside, millet is technically a relatively high 'glycemic index' food. Nevertheless, I have always found this particular recipe to be an excellent long-distance sustainer, and have noticed nothing like the energy spike-and-crash effect that I remember when eating corn flakes. In fact, these days I have a bad habit of postponing lunch almost indefinitely, so nicely does this breakfast keep me going. Perhaps my inclusion of almonds (via LSA) helps in this respect, because they are known to improve the GI of other foods, though I've noticed no particular difference when omitting LSA. Diabetics might want to tread carefully, though.

According to Wikipedia, '...millets are also a mild thyroid peroxidase inhibitor and probably should not be consumed in great quantities by those with thyroid disease.' I'm not sure if this breakfast alone would constitute 'great quantities' in your daily diet. Probably not.

 

Supplies

1. An ordinary kitchen blender
2. A microwave oven
3. Hulled or unhulled millet
4. Desiccated coconut
5. Dried fruit
6. Milk, soy milk, rice milk, or fruit juice
7. Sunflower, poppy, or other seeds (optional)
8. Stewed apple or canned fruit (optional)
9. LSA (optional)

You might be able to source unprocessed millet from your local health food store. Millet is usually sold hulled, and is typically the 'White French' variety. I have tried other varieties of millet, and they also work, but vary in taste considerably from the delicious, sweet, neutral flavour of white millet. I have also tried unhulled French White millet, and it works very well too, adding lots of fibre and producing a more wholemeal kind of effect—still very palatable. If I could find unhulled millet in bulk these days, I'd add a proportion of it to the hulled grain.

Contamination with glutinous grains should not be a problem, because millet is typically grown in different areas to wheat, etc. I did have a problem with one particular bag of tiny pearl millet that I bought. Its seeds were so small that a suitable sieve would easily have removed the few grains of wheat it contained, but I didn't like the taste of it all that much anyway. Maybe I was sold a bag of bird seed unwittingly!

I have never had a problem with weevils or other vermin in millet. So I buy in bulk from a grain wholesaler when possible.

 

Grinding the millet

The hard millet seeds are traditionally roasted before being boiled, but I forego any roasting and grind them into a coarse, uneven flour using an ordinary kitchen blender.

I add 1 & 2/3 (~1.6) cups of millet into the jug at a go. For my particular model of blender, this is just the right amount to strike a balance between grinding pressure and freedom for the seeds to circulate. You will have to experiment with your blender to get the right volume. You are aiming to have the grain circulate sluggishly like a thick fluid, with a nice vortex feeding down to the spinning blades. You will see the line of freshly ground particles slowly rise up the side of the blender as the blades do their work, displacing the whole seeds above. I find that the speed of the blades is important too. Slower is better, and I turn the blender off and on again a few times, even shaking the blender as it's working to improve the circulation. This might sound tricky, but it's quite easy once you get the hang of it.

[Since first writing this, I have worn out the blade bearings in our blender, following years of abuse. The replacement blender from our local Aldi supermarket has a jug with a wider base and a sunken section where the blades sit. This blender doesn't circulate the millet nearly as well. So blenders with jugs and bottoms of the right proportions do seem to count for something.]

In any case, too small a load in the blender will have the millet spinning too fast and flinging around instead of being broken up by the blades. Too great a load will bog down the circulation. But don't be worried about a few remaining unbroken grains—you won't notice them in the finished product. You should end up with a coarse flour that has an average consistency of fine polenta, but whose particle size varies from light powder to large granules.

I repeat the above procedure to make enough for a couple of weeks’ supply rather than drag the blender out every morning.

A coffee grinder should work too, albeit in smaller batches. A grain grinder would be great, I presume, but should be set for a coarser grind.

 

Cooking the millet

Into your breakfast bowl, add:

• 2/3 of a cup of ground millet
• 2/3 of a cup of water
• 1 heaped tablespoon of desiccated coconut
• 1 heaped tablespoon or more of dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, currants, and cranberries all good).
• Add a pinch of salt if you want, though this is not necessary.

Stir until the millet and other ingredients form a slurry.

Microwave uncovered for five minutes or so. Our old 600-watt machine requires full power. I've found that newer, more powerful units need to be set at about 3/4 power. The cooking rate is important. Too little cooking will leave a wet scum on top that isn't very appetising. Too much will dry everything into a hard lump, possibly overcooked in the middle. The shape of the bowl might also affect the way that the microwave heat is distributed, so try varying it if necessary. I use a deep noodle bowl from an Asian grocery.

When nuked correctly, this recipe does not produce a porridge. Instead, the millet will emerge like a layer of crusted cake, with a dryish, cracked surface. It will give off enticing vanillin and coconut fragrances as it cooks. I've found the coconut to be critical in making this dish appetising over the long term—partly because it rises to the surface and improves the 'crust'—but I have survived begrudgingly without it during some dark times.

The above quantity suits me, a fairly big bloke with a strong appetite, but lesser mortals might wish to reduce the quantity to, say, half a cup of both millet and water. Real workers could probably do with 3/4 of a cup or even more. If in doubt, always make too much...

 

The proof is in the eating

I sprinkle the top of the millet with sunflower seeds or poppy seeds to add interest and nutrition. I also sprinkle it with my home-made LSA. I then add a couple of dollops of home-made stewed apple. Canned fruit of various kinds would probably work well too.

Because this recipe produces more of a cake than a porridge, you'll need to add a little liquid as you eat it, more so if you omit the fruit. I've become accustomed to apple-blackcurrant juice in place of milk, but this migration away from milk required a lot of getting used to. Most people would find juice in their breakfast bowl to be disgusting at first, so stick with milk of some kind if that's what you're used to.

Whichever liquid you add, you might wish to do so gradually as you eat, with small installments. If you dump the liquid onto the millet in one go (cereal-style) the millet will tend to absorb the liquid like a sponge, and you can end up with something sloppy and less appealing. I've noticed that absorbency is greater for coarsely-ground millet from my new blender's coffee-grinder attachment, because it lacks the fine flour that would normally gum everything up. Another variable!

 

How does it rate?

Breakfast and morning routines set the tone for the rest of the day, on many levels. This recipe makes for a healthy start. In fact, you could hardly do better. As a concept, it might seem strange at first, because it's not quite the crunchy cereal you are familiar with, nor the creamy porridge / oatmeal / polenta style of dish you might imagine it to be (though I presume it could be varied to produce something to that effect). But it's not too bad at all once you get used to it, if I do say so.

As I mentioned earlier, the coconut helps disproportionately, and I find the stewed apple very useful in balancing out the dryness of the other ingredients. I really miss the stewed apple whenever I run out. The grain itself has way more flavour than polenta. White millet is simply delicious—golden, tasty little beads of joy. Prepared like this, millet is substantial and filling, unlike a lot of packaged cereals. It will fuel a morning of manual labour if need be.

For variety's sake, you can add different fruits, seeds, or chopped nuts on different days, and even try a half teaspoon of powdered cinnamon to the mix. I have also, at various times, substituted small proportions of polenta, beaten rice (poha), sorghum flour, dark millet flour, and other oddities for some of the millet, but none of these have improved the texture or flavour.

 

Stewed apple

1. Obtain a good quantity of apples (some varieties stew down better than others, but all will work).
2. Peeled, core, grub, and dice the apples.
3. Add powdered cinnamon / cinnamon sticks and whole cloves to taste.
4. Optionally, but especially with sour apples, add sugar or juice of some kind.
5. Tip everything into a large pot with a dash of water in the bottom to prevent initial burning.
6. Bring to the boil and simmer on low heat until the volume has greatly reduced (smells great).
7. If apples are still too chunky, partially mash them with a potato masher.
8. When cooled, divide into small containers and freeze.
9. Transfer a frozen container to fridge a day ahead of time, and it will be ready for the next breakfast (small containers kept in the fridge should last long enough to finish before succumbing to fungus).

 

Disclaimer

I stress that I am an amateur in matters of nutrition, not an expert. Please consult a qualified health professional before making any unusual or critical dietary decisions.