RA 00110.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

which is consumed with curd, vegetables, chilies,
and other sauces. Dosai is made from a 1:2 mixture
of fermented cereals and fermented black gram (Fig.
3). It is widely consumed in South India and Sri
Lanka. Rice is the preferred cereal but pearl millet
and other cereals are used in some areas. Idli is
similar to dosai except it has a coarser particle size
and is steamed into small, white, acid-leavened
cakes. Idli is soft, moist, and spongy with a slightly
sour taste. Pearl millet with a light color that more
closely resembles rice give the best dosai and idli
(Desikachar 1977).
Porridges
The major difference between thick and thin porridges
is the concentration of flour in the porridge.
Generally, thick porridges are solid and can be eaten
with the fingers, while thin porridges are consumed
by drinking or by using a utensil. In this discussion,
thick porridges will be emphasized since they have
the most critical characteristics relating to millet
quality. Thick porridge may be made by souring and
fermenting flour prior to cooking or by cooking the
flour or meal in acid, alkali, or water (Fig. 4). In
general, alkaline, thick porridge products are more
sensitive to changes in millet and sorghum properties
than are other porridges (Scheuring et al. 1982,
Da et al. 1982). Alkaline porridges are popular in
areas of West Africa. In Mali, a thick porridge, to, is
generally made using 'potash' (Scheuring et al.
1983), while in neighboring Burkina Faso, it is usually
made by cooking the flour in tamarind extract
(Da et al. 1982). Potash is obtained by leaching ashes
with water to produce alkali. Porridges made with
alkali often produce very dark, undesirable colors.
In Niger and Tanzania, thick porridges are prepared
by cooking flour in water while in southern Africa,
Niger, and Sudan, sour, fermented porridges are
preferred.
Typical procedures for producing thick porridges
are presented in Figure 4. The pearl millet is usually
decorticated by hand-pounding in a mortar and pestle
followed by crushing the decorticated grain into
flour. Part of the flour, suspended in cool water, is
then added to boiling water, or boiling water containing
potash or tamarind extract, and cooked to
produce a thin porridge. Part of the thin porridge is
set aside and flour is added to the remainder of the
thin porridge with vigorous stirring. Portions of the
thin porridge may be added to the cooking pot with
the flour. When all the flour and thin porridge is
stirred into the cooking pot, the mixture is cooked
for a few more minutes. The vigorous stirring during
cooking produces a thoroughly gelatinized, smooth
paste. The thick porridge is consumed after cooling
by tearing off a handful and dipping it into sauce
made with chilies, onions, tomatoes, okra, garlic, or
other vegetables, including amaranthus leaves, cow-
B l a c k gram d h a l
D e c o r t i c a t e d
m i l l e t
Wash and soak 5 - 1 0 h
F i n e g r i n d i n m o r t a r
Soak in w a t e r 5-10 h
C o a r s e g r i n d i n m o r t a r
Combine s l u r r i e s i n t o a t h i c k b a t t e r
M i x w e l l
Add s a l t f o r s e a s o n i n g
( a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 % w.v)
I n c u b a t e 12-24 h i n warm p l a c e ( 3 0 - 3 2 ° C )
P o u r b a t t e r o n t o a h o t g r e a s e d pan
F r y o n b o t h s i d e s
D o s a i
Figure 3. Traditional method of Indian Dosai preparation. Adapted from Steinkraus (1983).
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