🌾 Why We Should Not Pressure Cook Millets: A Traditional Wisdom Backed by Science

Millets are making a powerful comeback in our kitchens as ancient grains full of nutrition and healing potential. As we embrace millets like Foxtail, Kodo, Browntop, Little, and Barnyard into our diets, the way we prepare and cook them becomes critically important.

Dr. Khader Vali, a globally respected millet scientist and health practitioner, strongly recommends against pressure cooking or using Instant Pots for millets. Instead, he advocates soaking and slow open-pan cooking. But why?

🧠 The Logic Behind Avoiding Pressure Cooking

1. Nutrient Preservation
   High heat and pressure can destroy heat-sensitive vitamins and alter certain phytonutrients that millets are rich in. When cooked gently in an open vessel, millets retain their full spectrum of nutrients.

2. Anti-Nutrient Breakdown
   Millets contain compounds like phytic acid and lectins. Soaking for 6–8 hours helps break these down. Pressure cooking doesn’t allow this process and can lock in these anti-nutrients, making digestion harder and reducing mineral absorption.

3. Enzyme Activation
   Soaking triggers natural enzymatic activity, making millets easier to digest and more bioavailable. Cooking them in an Instant Pot straight out of the packet skips this crucial step.

4. Digestive Ease & Gut Health
   When millets are soaked and cooked slowly, they become gut-friendly and suitable for those with IBS, leaky gut, or autoimmune conditions. Fast, high-pressure cooking can lead to bloating or incomplete digestion.

5. Fiber and Texture Preservation
   Millets are rich in insoluble fiber. Open cooking helps preserve this texture, aiding in better satiety, improved digestion, and controlled sugar release. Pressure cooking often turns them mushy.

🧂 Millet Cooking: Return to Roots

Our grandmothers soaked, sun-dried, and cooked grains over a slow flame—not just for tradition, but because that’s how nature intended it.

Embrace millets with mindfulness, not just for their nutritional profile, but for their soul-nourishing energy when prepared the right way.

📊 Millet Cooking Chart & Visual Guide

Here is a simple chart you can follow for soaking and cooking the major Siridhanya millets:

🌿 Tip: Always rinse soaked millets 2–3 times before cooking. Use a thick-bottomed vessel, simmer with a lid partially covered, and stir occasionally.