Pearl millet

Cenchrus americanus

grain

Small grey grains of a cereal of the semi-arid Sahel, India and Pakistan, gluten-free; as porridge, millet couscous or flatbread. It provides fibre, arabinoxylans and vitamin B1.

Origin

Sahel

Season (United States)

all year round

Preparation

Rinsed, the grains soak for a few hours then cook for 30 to 40 minutes; it is also eaten as flour, millet porridge or flatbreads. Soaking, sprouting or sourdough bring its phytates down — and release the zinc and iron they were holding. Most of its goitrogens go with cooking, even a short one.

Molecules

Resistant starch RS1 · Arabinoxylans · Vitamin B1 (thiamine) · Insoluble fibers · MethionineIn small amounts, not counted Plant ironWhat slows things down Phytates · Goitrogens

Did you know?

Its dense spikes, 20 cm to 1.5 m long, recall the candles of rushes — hence its French name of candle millet; in French-speaking Africa it is the “small millet”, sorghum being the “big millet”.