Millet Power Salad with Lemon-Cumin Dressing
Jain-friendly millet salad with fluffy foxtail millet, chickpeas, crunchy vegetables, roasted almonds, and a bright lemon-cumin dressing. Filling enough for lunch and ready for meal prep.
Equipment
- Medium saucepan
- Large mixing bowl
- Small jar or bowl
Ingredients
Millet base
- 1 cup foxtail millet rinsed and drained
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon oil for toasting
Power mix-ins
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas or canned, rinsed and drained
- 1 medium cucumber finely diced
- 1 medium carrot grated or finely diced
- 1 small bell pepper diced
- 1 cup cabbage finely shredded
- 1/2 cup pomegranate arils
- 1/4 cup roasted almonds roughly chopped, or roasted peanuts
- 1/4 cup fresh coriander chopped
- 1 cup broccoli florets optional; small florets, steamed until just tender, then cooled
- 1/2 cup boiled corn kernels optional
Lemon-cumin dressing
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil sunflower, avocado, or light olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin toasted preferred
- 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- pinch hing optional
- 1/2 teaspoon honey or jaggery optional; softens sharp lemon
- 1-2 teaspoons water optional; to loosen if needed
Instructions
Cook the millet
- Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the rinsed millet and toast 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty.
- Add water and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to the lowest heat, cover, and simmer 18 to 20 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and rest covered for 5 minutes. Fluff gently with a fork.
- Spread the millet on a wide plate and cool completely, about 15 to 20 minutes. Do not dress warm millet.
Make the dressing
- If toasting cumin, warm a dry pan and stir ground cumin or whole seeds 20 to 30 seconds until fragrant. Cool; crush seeds if needed.
- Add oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt, optional hing, and optional sweetener to a jar. Shake hard until cloudy. Loosen with a teaspoon of water if it feels thick.
Assemble
- In a large bowl, combine cooled millet, chickpeas, cucumber, carrot, bell pepper, cabbage, pomegranate, coriander, and any optional broccoli or corn.
- Pour on enough dressing to coat, then toss gently. Taste for salt and lemon.
- Top with roasted almonds just before serving so they stay crunchy.
- Serve cold or at cool room temperature.
Notes
Fully Jain as written when you skip hing if your kitchen does not use it.
Make-ahead: store cooked millet and chopped vegetables separately up to 3 days. Dress and add nuts when you eat.
If the salad tastes flat the next day, a fresh squeeze of lemon wakes it up faster than more oil.
For a bigger batch of dressing, use about 1/3 cup of the Lemon Cumin Dressing jar recipe.
For a chaat-leaning bowl with raw mango and chaat masala, use the original millet salad instead.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!