Barnyard millet

Echinochloa spp.

grain

Small grains of a hardy Asian millet, gluten-free, cooked like rice or as porridge. It provides fibre and starch.

Origin

India and Japan

Season (United States)

all year round

Preparation

Rinsed, the grains cook for 15 to 20 minutes in two and a half times their volume of water, like rice, or longer as porridge; they are also eaten as flour. Soaking, sprouting or sourdough bring its phytates down — and release the zinc and iron they were holding.

Molecules

Resistant starch RS1 · Insoluble fibersIn small amounts, not counted ArabinoxylansWhat slows things down Phytates

Did you know?

In the rice fields of the Po, it was a dreaded weed, pulled by hand by the mondine; one of its forms even mimics rice to escape them.