Pan-Indian · Sesame oil
Til-Ginger Millet Bowl
Toasted millet, vegetables, paneer, and a sharp sesame-ginger dressing made with Bharat sesame oil.
Ingredients
- 450 g cooked little millet or foxtail millet
- 3 tbsp Bharat sesame oil
- 200 g paneer
- 2 carrots
- 1 cucumber
- 2 handfuls greens
- 2 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp ginger
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp jaggery
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- salt
Sesame oil outside the tadka pan
Bharat sesame oil is not only for a deep tadka. In a dressing, it gives millet the weight it often lacks and carries ginger, lime, and jaggery without needing much else. The oil should be present but not heavy; three tablespoons is enough for three generous bowls.
Use cooked millet that has cooled slightly. Very hot millet drinks the dressing too quickly and turns dense. Warm, separate grains hold the sesame oil on the surface, where the aroma can do its work.
Method
- Whisk Bharat sesame oil, ginger, lime juice, jaggery, soy sauce, and salt until the dressing turns glossy.
- Heat one teaspoon of sesame oil in a small pan and sear the paneer until golden at the edges.
- Warm the millet with a pinch of salt and one spoon of dressing.
- Divide millet between bowls.
- Add paneer, carrots, cucumber, and greens.
- Spoon over the remaining dressing.
- Finish with toasted sesame seeds and serve while the millet is still warm.
Notes from the kitchen
- Little millet and foxtail millet both work. Rice does too, but millet holds the dressing better.
- Add roasted sweet potato or beetroot when cooking for a larger table.
- Keep extra dressing in the fridge for two days; shake before using.
In the making
The oil, the heat, the finish.
The oil for this dish
Bharat Sesame Oil →
Til oil, drawn from the first winter crop. The oldest pressed oil on the subcontinent.
