Millet Cakes with Turmeric, Feta and Cranberries

In terms of texture and flavour, I would position these more-ish millet cakes between the rice-y crunch of Persian scorched tahdig rice and an Indian fried dahi toast. The feta and yoghurt make these cakes creamy on the inside, but it is the crunch, always the crunch (!) that make you want to reach for more!

Makes 12 cakes

2 ½ cups cooked millet (3/4 cup uncooked millet)

1 ½ tsp grated fresh turmeric or 1 tsp ground turmeric

55g dried cranberries, roughly chopped if large

1 tsp sugar

3 tbsps. Cornflour

¼ cup plain flour

1 green chili, finely chopped

¼ cup red onion, finely diced

120g full cream yoghurt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

120g feta, broken into chunks

Pinch of fine salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper (activates the turmeric & a great friend of feta)

½ cup sunflower oil or ghee for frying the pancakes

2 tsp black mustard seed

2 tbsp fresh curry leaves

To cook the millet:

In a medium sized saucepan, dry toast the millet for 3 – 4 minutes stirring constantly. Add 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt to the toasted millet and bring to the boil and cook for 17 minutes. Once the millet has come to the boil over high heat, you can place a lid on the sauce pan and turn the heat down to low and let the millet cook gently until done. The millet will resemble a slightly bigger couscous but with the same “dry” texture. Set aside to cool before using in the recipe.

To make the millet cakes:

Stir together the turmeric, red onion, cranberries, mustard seeds, sugar, green chili, yoghurt, cornflour and beaten eggs. Add the cooked millet and fold the feta chunks into the mixture.

Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes.

Shape the millet mixture into small patties, just smaller than a ¼ cup measure and about 1 ½ cm high. The mixture will be wet but should hold together when squashed.

Heat the half the oil or ghee in a pan set over medium-high heat. Fry the cakes until properly toasted and crisp on the outside, about 3 minutes on each side. Add half the curry leaves to the ghee in the pan when the cakes are nearly done cooking, so that they have 30 seconds or so in the hot oil or ghee. Some millet will spatter and spat initially so heads up for a bit of excitement with the first few cakes. Once they are deeply coloured and crisp, remove the cakes to a paper towelled-lined plate. Add the remaining oil or ghee to the pan and continue frying until all your batter is done.

These are marvellous served hot and crispy. (They warm up fantastically in an air fryer if you are lucky enough to have such a thing.)  Serve the millet cakes with sriracha, or with green chutney with chaat masala (p. x) or your favourite chutney or tomato sauce. Make sure the curry leaves get scattered over the cakes if you are using them.