7 Millet Drinks to Keep You Cool & Healthy This Summer; Simple Recipes Inside

Millets are a powerhouse of nutrients and serve as great coolants in summer. Here are seven tried-and-tested millet drink recipes you can try.

A scorching summer day and you’re craving a drink, but ‘make it healthy’ you say? Here, we put together a list of millet drinks that are not only high-ranking in their health quotient but super delicious to add to your morning routine.

For those who’d love to experiment, there are also recipes that you can try your hand at to perfect the drink.

1. Bajra raab

One of the most popular millet drinks is the bajra raab whose hero ingredient bajra (pearl millet) is a storehouse of nutrition. The drink is a favourite in Rajasthani homes where the bajra flour is roasted with ingredients such as ajwain (carom seeds), ginger powder and salt among others. 

The drink is a watery consistency that can be thickened by boiling it for longer. One of the wonders of this drink is that it builds the immunity of the drinker, and you are certain to be able to keep those colds and coughs at bay.

Recipe (serves 2)

Ingredients (1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml):

2 tsp ghee
1 tsp ajwain seeds
4 tbsp bajra flour
1 tbsp jaggery grated or powdered
½ tsp salt
1 tsp dry ginger powder
2 cups water
1 tbsp chopped nuts optional

Instructions:

1. Heat ghee in a small pot. 
2. Once the ghee is hot, add ajwain seeds and watch them sputter.
3. Add bajra flour and roast it in ghee for 2–3 minutes. You will start to smell the aroma.
4. Add the jaggery, salt, ginger powder and water. Mix very very well to ensure that there are no millet flour lumps and the jaggery is completely dissolved in water.
5. Bring it to a boil and continue to cook on low heat for another 5 minutes.
6. The raab is ready. Empty into serving glasses and add some chopped nuts. Serve hot.

2. Mango ragi smoothie

Ragi (finger millet) is an excellent coolant for the body, and you’d do well to add it to your diet on these scorching days. Its high calcium content coupled with its benefits for the colon makes it perfect for anyone looking to step up their health profile. Ragi is a rich source of Vitamin C and just what you are looking for if you want to build your immunity.

Recipe (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

Fresh mango – 1 (Fresh mango or mango pulp can be used)
Sugar – 1 to 2 tsp (optional)
Milk – 1 cup
Cooked ragi – 2 to 3 tbsp

Instructions:

1. Blend all the ingredients together. 
2. You can use other additives for milkshakes like condensed milk, dry fruits, etc or even ice cream as the topping.

3. Falahari rajgira smoothie

Hailed as the super crop of the future, rajgira (amaranth) is the newest addition in town to every health drink and food imaginable. But what makes it such a sought-after option? It’s resilience and nutritional quotient, say experts.

The millet grows in harsh climes on the slopes of the Himalayas, and it is due to this ability to flourish in the worst weather that it borrows its name from ‘amarantos’ the Greek word which means one that does not wither. The 8000-year-old millet when combined with wheat has a protein content comparable to what is found in fish.

Recipe (serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 cup puffed rajgira
1/4 cup washed and soaked raisins
1/4 cup washed and soaked cashews
6 washed and soaked dates
2 tbsp honey
2 cups milk
1/2 cup water

Instructions:

1. First, take the nuts, rajgira lahi and 2 tablespoons of water in a blender and blend to a smooth paste.
2. Then add the milk slowly and keep blending till you have a nice grainy and silky smoothie ready.
3. Enjoy. Garnish with more rajgira lahi on top with more raisins and cashews.

4. Kambangkool

A fermented runny porridge mixed with sour curd produces a drink so nourishing that it traces its history centuries back to Sangam literature. The drink would be consumed first thing in the day, to allow better digestion. What makes it such a great alternative is the perfect balance of protein, fibre and starch along with the spiciness of cumin seeds.

Recipe (serves 2)

Ingredients:

6 cups water (1 cup = 250 ml)
2.5 tsp salt (adjust to your taste)
2 green chilli
1/2 cup sour curd
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 inch ginger

Instructions:

1. Take the pearl millet in a mixer and grind it to a little coarse powder. Measure the kambu flour. Take 5 measures of water in a saucepan and add the kambu flour, and mix well.
2. Keep the flame at medium and stir continuously. Within 5 minutes, the koozh starts getting thicker.
3. Stir continuously to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the koozh is thick, switch off the flame and allow it to come to room temperature.
4. Now add cold water to the koozh and bring it to a drinking consistency. It should be diluted nicely. Cover the koozh vessel with a lid and keep it aside overnight for fermentation.
5. The next day morning, take the curd in a mixer along with green chilli, ginger and cumin seeds.
6. Grind the curd to a nice paste. Add salt to the koozh and mix well. Then add the ground curd to the koozh and give it a nice stir.
7. Serve with chopped onions/shallots, green chillies and enjoy the drink!

5. Foxtail millet juice

Abundant in Vitamin B12, the foxtail millet is an all-rounder. It delivers amazing results for anyone looking to improve their skin and hair health, and also regulate blood flow. What’s amazing is that this preparation of foxtail millet along with coconut is wonderful for mothers-to-be and diabetics as it regulates glucose levels.

Recipe (serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup foxtail millet
1 1/2 cup grated coconut
Sugar to taste
1 tsp ginger paste/powder
1 tsp cloves powder
10 dates
10 cups water

Instructions:

1. Wash the millet and soak it for 2 hours.
2. Then remove the seeds of the dates and soak them too.
3. Now add the millet, ginger, cloves, and dates into a blender add 1 cup of water then blend into a smooth paste.
4. Add 5 cups of water and sieve it, then keep aside.
5. Add the coconut to the blender with half a cup of water and blend nicely.
6. Add 3 cups of water, then sieve it.
7. Mix everything together and add sugar to suit your taste.

6. Kunun Zaki

The brew originates in the northern part of Nigeria, where different varieties of the drink are available, each going by the name of the hero ingredient used. Kunu gyada is made from rice, kunu aya is made with coconut, and kunu zaki from sorghum or jowar. The drink is a traditional way of welcoming guests in parts of Nigeria and is well known for its rich protein content.

Recipe (serves 2)

Ingredients:

3 cups jowar
1/2 cup sweet potatoes (fresh or dried)
1 tbsp ginger (fresh or dried)
1 tsp cloves
Sugar to taste
2 litres water

Instructions:

1. Clean the millet from stones and dirt, and wash the millet. Then soak the millet overnight in water for fermentation.
2. Ground the sweet potatoes, ginger and cloves. Pour in the millet with the grounded sweet potatoes, ginger and cloves, and blend together.
3. Separate the blended mix into two parts setting one part aside.
4. In one part, add boiled water and stir until thick. Leave it uncovered and allow it to cool. Add this to the other part and stir later on.
5. Allow it to stay overnight, then sieve it the next morning with added sugar.

7. Coconut zomkom

If your tastebuds are a fan of spicy, this drink is sure to fire them up. The coconut zomkom has two main ingredients — ‘zom’ which translates to flour in West African countries, and ‘kom’ which translates to water. You can use any millet for this drink. It is simple to prepare and also has a good flavour profile.

Recipe (serves 2)

Ingredients:

850 grams millet
4 tbsp cloves
5 ginger
½ tsp sugar
4 tbsp black pepper
4 chilli peppers
Evaporated milk (optional)
Ice cubes
Room temperature water

Instructions:

1. Wash millets in clean water multiple times.
2. Remove the millet chaff that floats on the water.
3. During each wash, carefully move the millets into another bowl so as to be able to separate the stones or sand that may settle.
4. Soak rinsed millets for 8 or more hours.
5. Take the millets out of the water used for soaking.
6. Rinse millets in fresh clean water twice.
7. Blend the millets, ginger, cloves, black pepper and chilli pepper with room temperature water.
8. After blending, get a big bowl and a sieve or cheesecloth.
9. Pour some of the fermented millet paste into the sieve.
10. Add some water and move your hands in a circular motion to separate the chaff from the millet flour.
11. When the millet flour is properly separated from the chaff, you will notice the chaff turn to greenish or greyish.
12. Dispose of all the separated chaff.
13. Mix the millet drink well with a spoon or spatula. This is important because millet flour settles fast.
14. Add lots of ice cubes.

(Edited by Pranita Bhat)

Sources:

Bajra raab / Pearl millet drink by Ashima, Published on 8 January, 2018. 

3 Easy, Nutritious Summer Ragi Millet Drinks by Indie Diet. 

Falahari Rajgira Smoothie by Vaishali Suhas, Published on 15 September, 2022. 

Kambu Koozh Recipe / Pearl Millet Porridge Recipe / Kambang Koozh Recipe by Sowmya Venkatachalam, Published on 18 March, 2019. 

How To Make Kunu Zaki The Millet Drink by Chinelo Eze, Published on 8 April, 2022. 

Spicy Millet Drink – Zomkom by The Online Cook, Published on February 22, 2022.