Well, if you ask me what kind of person I am when it comes to food. I am a soup person! I love including soups in my regular menu. In other words, I can define that soup is my comfort meal. There are many varieties of soup available around but personally, I prefer my soup loaded with vegetables, proteins, and carbs to make it a complete meal. My today's soup post is a simple variation of my regular chicken soup in which I have included Kudo millet and also, used the technique which I recently learned from my culinary class. I have prepared this soup with the basic ingredients which are readily available at home.
So far I have posted many interesting soups on my page like Betel leaves chicken soup, carrot, and Beetroot soup, Veggies, and dal soup, Chayote soup, Sausage coconut milk soup, etc. but including millets in my soup was on my to-do list for a quite long time. Apart from chicken and millet, I have included vegetables and spices to the soup which indeed makes the soup a complete balanced meal. We know that a balanced meal consists of proteins, grains, and vegetables. Likewise, this soup consists of all the elements required for a balanced meal. And for all vegetarians, who are looking out for an option for chicken. Don't worry! Just skip the chicken and make a lovely vegetable stock using onion, celery, and leek. And, include chickpeas to get the protein in the soup.
I chose to include millet in chicken soup is to make my little one learn about the benefits of millets. Being a picky eater, he doesn't prefer to include millet in his menu but as a mother, isn't my responsibility to feed him a nutritious meal? So, I decided to include millet in his favorite chicken soup and he loved the soup especially the addition of millet excited him and asked me whether I included tiny ball pasta in this soup :) What else do I need to be happier :)
The ingredients used in this recipe to make a delicious soup:
Millet - Millets which is considered a poor man's food in olden days is a trend food ingredient now because of the awareness of its nutritional values. Millet is a whole grain and used in meals, in the substitution of regular rice. There are different varieties of millets available in the market. Little millet, Kudo millet, Pearl millet, Foxtail millet, etc, are some of the varieties of millets. Incorporating millets in our diet helps in weight loss, improves immunity, controls blood sugar, helps in digestion, acts as antioxidants, etc. Apart from serving millets as rice, these can also be included in the baking. Many interesting recipes like Burnt garlic fried rice using foxtail millet, Kudo millet - Poha idly, Millet maple syrup Pongal, Millet chicken pulao, etc. can be prepared using millets. In this recipe, I have included Kudo millet which can also be substituted with any varieties of millet. Kudo millet resembles the rice compared to the other varieties. The cooking method is also similar to regular rice. The millet is soaked for a few minutes before adding to the soup which fastens the cooking process.
Chicken - Boneless chicken is used in this recipe for convenience but adding chicken with bones gives a lovely flavor to the soup. But, make sure to separate the flesh after preparing the broth. The cooked chicken is shredded and added back to the soup.
Vegetables - I have included only the basic vegetables like onions, tomatoes, ginger, and garlic in this recipe. Variations can be made by including carrots, pumpkin, etc. The ginger and garlic are included in the soup to aid the digestion.
Spice bag - The spice bag consists of bay leaf, crushed peppercorns, and fresh thyme. I have included 4 varieties of peppercorns to enhance the flavor of the soup. All the ingredients are tied in a muslin cloth and dropped in the stockpot. The spices can also be included directly in the soup but this method helps to discard the spices easily.
Butter - Butter is used as fat in this recipe which also helps to enhance the flavor. If you are health conscious, feel free to use olive oil.
Water - I have included water in this recipe but to make it more flavorful, include chicken stock or vegetable stock.
Here come the recipe and procedure for the Chicken Millet Soup...
Ingredients:
70 gm Kudo Millet
15 gm Butter
180 gm Onion, Medium dice
60 gm Tomato, Medium dice
330 gm Chicken, boneless
6 gm Ginger, chopped
10 gm Garlic, peeled and chopped
750ml water + 240 ml water
Salt to taste
Finely chopped Spring onions for garnishing ( alternatively, coriander leaves can be used )
Spice bag / Sachet:
1 Bay leaf
2 Sprig of Fresh Thyme
3 gm Peppercorns (I have used 4 varieties of peppercorns in this recipe)
Method:
Keep the mise en place ready.
Skim regularly to remove dirt and oil from the surface.
Let it simmer for 30 - 40 minutes. Once done, remove the spice bag and discard it.
Remove the cooked chicken pieces, shred, and keep aside.
Transfer the remaining ingredients to the blender and grind it to a smooth puree.
Strain the ground puree and keep aside.
Soak the millets for half an hour. Wash and drain the water.
Heat the strained puree and add the washed millets followed by the remaining water and salt.
Let it cook until the millets get cooked.
Add seasoning and the shredded chicken to the soup.
Boil for a couple of minutes and remove from the flame.
Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves. Serve hot.
As I mentioned above, though it requires an extra step to prepare the broth, it is quite easy to make the recipe. Grinding the cooked vegetables into smooth puree gives a lovely body to the soup. The texture will be smooth and creamy. The starch from the millet also increases the thickness of the soup. The soup tastes delicious with the dominant flavor of the chicken. The perfect blend of millet, soup, and shredded chicken in each spoon will satisfy the palate for sure. The addition of seasoning is always one's preference so adjust according to the taste bud.
I have involved a few techniques like skimming, preparing a broth, and preparing spice bag/sachet in this recipe. Skimming is nothing but removing the dirt and oil from the surface of the broth. It is always recommended to simmer the flame which helps the dirt and oil to float on the surface of the stock/broth. I felt really great to involve a few skills in this recipe from my culinary learning. The majority of my soup post (which I had posted earlier) had spices but I never tried them making a sachet. And also, after implementing the skimming technique in stock/broth, I noticed a major difference in the texture of the soup. I would love to try more soup recipes in the future which includes the other techniques too. In fact, I am planning to prepare this soup again but with the addition of diced vegetables and cream to make it healthier and rich. And also, planning to try seafood soup with the addition of millet.
Variations:
If you want to add more vegetables to this recipe, follow the below procedure.
Cut the vegetables like carrot, celery, etc. into small dice.
Before boiling the strained puree, heat 5gms of butter and saute the diced vegetables. Then, add the strained puree and follow the process as mentioned in the recipe.
Substitute water with vegetable stock or chicken stock to enhance the flavor of the soup.
I have garnished the soup with finely chopped spring onions but can also use coriander leaves which gives a lovely and fresh taste.
I hope you all loved this interesting soup and if you try this recipe, please feel free to share your feedback to priyasmenu@gmail.com or tag me at @priyas.menu on Instagram.
References:
Lang, A. (2020, March 19). What Is Millet? Nutrition, Benefits, and More. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-millet
Marakani, P. (2019, November 22). Millets: Types, Benefits and Recipes: Millets & Weight Loss. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://www.healthifyme.com/blog/millets-types-benefits-recipes-weight-loss/
