Watermelon seed millet rice
You can literally use every part of the watermelon fruit. The delicious fruit pulp, the rind as well as the seeds. Today I am making a watermelon seed millet rice that is as tasty as it is nutritious. And most of all, easy to make. I have used two types of millets and amaranth along with Basmati rice as I felt it would go well with the nutty flavour of the watermelon seeds. You could make it with any combination of millets, rice or even millet vermicelli should you so desire.
Shelled and sprouted watermelon seeds are readily available in the market. But you can just as easily collect the seeds every time you eat watermelon and then dry roast them or sprout them and then roast them to get even more nutrition from the seeds. These seeds are a powerhouse of nutrients including zinc, copper, potassium, iron, magnesium as well as being rich in amino acids, proteins, vitamin B and healthy fatty acids.
Ingredients
Barnyard millet (kuthiravali) – 3/4 cup
Little millet (samai) – 3/4 cup
Amaranth – 1/4 cup
Basmati rice 3/4 cup
Watermelon seeds (dry, shelled) – 1 cup
Red chillies – 4 (to taste)
Raw peanuts (shelled) – 1/2 cup
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Asafoetida – a pinch
Salt – to taste
Black pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – 10
Ghee – 2 tbsp
Cooking oil – 3 tbsp
Dry roast the watermelon seeds and red chillies and set aside to cool. Cook the millers and rice with 1.5 times water. Add a tsp of oil to the millets before cooking. Coarsely dry grind the watermelon seeds and red chillies. In a kadai add the oil and fry the peanuts and take them out. In the remaining oil, pop the mustard seeds, add urad dal, pepper powder and asafoetida and fry till golden brown.
Once millets are cooked transfer to a large bowl and spread it out gently with a ladle. Dribble the ghee over the cooked millets and add salt and the curry leaves. Add the powdered watermelon seeds and peanuts and mix well. Serve with a puli koottu or even on its own. Serves 6.