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cooked millet in a bowl
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How to cook millet

This is an easy, and fail-proof method with detailed instructions for cooking millet grain using the stovetop, Instant Pot, pressure cooker, and different millet recipes that can be had for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Global
Keyword cooking millet, how to cook millet, millet recipes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 198kcal

Equipment

  • Instant Pot
  • Pressure cooker

Ingredients

  • 1 cup millet
  • 1.25 cups water exact quantity depends on the cooking method
  • 1 teaspoon oil optional but recommeded for fluffy millet

Instructions

  • If you are soaking the millet, do it for 6 to 8 hours.
  • Wash the millet a couple of times with clean water. If you are not soaking, you may need to rub it with your hands to remove the dirt altogether.
  • Drain the water from millet completely and keep it aside.

How to cook millet on Stovetop

  • Heat a cooking pot. Add the drained millet, water to the pot, and close it partially with the lid. For presoaked millet, use 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of millet. Use 2 to 2.5 cups of water for unsoaked millet.
  • Increase the heat to high and let the water come to the boiling, around 5 minutes.
  • Now reduce the flame to low and close the lid completely.Let the millet cook until all the water is absorbed. It will take around 6 to 8 minutes for pre-soaked millet and 10-13 minutes for un-soaked millet.
  • Millet will be cooked by the time all water is soaked up. Now switch off the flame and let it sit for ten more minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, fluff it up with a fork, and the cooked millet is ready to use.

Cooking millet using an Instant pot

  • Add drained millet, water, and a teaspoon of oil to the inner pot. For presoaked millet, use 1.25 cups of water for 1 cup of millet. For unsoaked millet use 1.75 cups of water.
  • Close the lid properly, move the steam releasing valve to SEALING position.
  • Select manual or pressure cook mode and cook it on HIGH PRESSURE for 4 minutes if using pre-soaked millet. Cook it for 8 minutes if using unsoaked millet.
  • Switch if off once done and do a normal pressure release after 10 minutes.
  • Fluff it up with a fork and the millet is ready to use.

How to cook millet in a Stove top Pressure Cooker

  • Add millet, water, and teaspoon of oil to the pressure cooker. For presoaked millet, use 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of millet. Use 2 cups of water for unsoaked millet.
  • Close the lid and let it for 1 to 2 whistles on medium-high flame for pre-soaked millet. It will take around 5 minutes. For unsoaked millet, cook it for 2-3 whistles, around 7 to 8 minutes.
  • Once done, take it out of the heat and let the pressure release naturally.
  • Once the pressure is released completely, fluff it up with a fork.

Rice cooker millet

  • Add drained millet, water, and teaspoon of oil to the rice cooker's inner pot.
  • If you are using soaked millet, use 1.5 cups of water for every 1 cup of millet. For unsoaked millet, for every 1 cup of millet, use 2 cups of water.
  • Close the rice cooker with its lid and use a white rice setting if your rice cooker has options to select. Else select the cook button.
  • Once the rice cooker finishes cooking, switch it off and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then fluff up the millet, and it is ready to use.

Notes

  • This method will yield fluffy millet. If you want porridge consistency then use 1:3  millet to water ratio.
  • Check the millet to water ratio section for more details.
Nutrition values are my rough estimates. Please feel free to use your calculator if you rely on them for your diet.

Nutrition

Calories: 198kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 98mg | Fiber: 4g | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 2mg