"It is my mission to popularize Parsi food…to take it all over India and all over the world…and to do that including millets,” chef, author and avid Instagrammer Anahita Dhondy told Parsiana on September 11, 2023. She was part of a trio of chefs who created a millet-based meal and demonstration for the spouses of world leaders at the G20 meetings in Delhi over the weekend of September 9-10. The event was staged at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Pusa, Delhi. To create awareness and increase production and consumption of millets, the United Nations, at the behest of the Government of India, declared 2023 the International Year of Millets.
Anahita Dhondy (l) bonding with Akshata Murthy
For the meal, Dhondy prepared "a humble dish… Kera na Cutlets — raw banana stuffed with barnyard millets coated with puffed amaranth,” she said. "I plated it in a mitti ka katora (small earthenware dish) shaped like a mango with two chutneys which made it look like an Indian flag… The conversation between the first ladies while I demonstrated the dish is something I’ll truly cherish forever,” stated the chef. She had a special message on her social media account for Akshata Murthy, wife of Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the UK: "To the First Lady of the UK, Akshata Murthy, it was lovely meeting you and talking about the Parsi community and its food culture.”
"I feel millets are the perfect grain…They are the perfect carriers of flavor… and extremely nutritious…They are good for the planet and they are good for you… as well as the farmer… It is very easy to include millets in your diet,” she stated. Dhondy said she has done "full millet menus with Parsi food …Berry pulao with mushrooms (where millets replace rice)… and even … cutlets coated with millets, (a) great way to showcase the diversity of our country.”
Dhondy sees special status for Indian food on the world stage. "I hope that Indian food reaches its zenith… We just have to keep working towards it and I know that Indian food will dominate the world food scene very soon.”
While the Parsi chef was responsible for the starters, chef Kunal Kapur presented a jowar and mushroom version of the Muslim dish Khichra. Chef Ajay Chopra’s dessert offering was a lemon mille-feuille with a ragi cookie topped with shrikhand (sweetened hung curd).
Above right: Dhondy championing millets; above left: berry pulav
Dhondy shared with Parsiana her recipe for Millet Berry Pulav.
Boiled barnyard millet or kodo or proso (1½ cup)
Water (3 cups)
Green cardamom (2)
Bay leaves (2)
Star anise (1)
Cinnamon stick (1)
Some strands of saffron (soaked in half a cup of water with milk and a pinch of sugar and salt)
Ghee (2 tbsp)
Oil (50 ml)
Onion (200 g, chopped)
Ginger and garlic paste (1 tbsp)
Green chillies (2 or 3, chopped)
Turmeric (half tsp)
Coriander, cumin and chilli powders (half tsp each)
Tomatoes (100 g)
Tomato puree (50 g)
Salt to taste
Option for filling:
If veg — amaranth leaves, spinach, peas
If non-veg — mutton cooked and boiled with spices
For garnish — fried onions, fried cashews, fried zereshk berries, coriander, mint
Boil the water, add the spices, sugar and salt. Check it should be flavorful. Add the millets and boil. Once cooked, discard the water, add ghee and saffron milk. Cover and leave aside.
For the masala, add oil and onion, ginger garlic paste, green chillies and cook. Add salt and spices. Add the tomato and puree. Mix till it comes together as a masala. Then add whatever your choice of filling and cook together with the masala.
Layer the pulav and put on dum. Serve hot with all the garnishes