Fluffy foxtail millet rava steamed loose like couscous, heaped with tomato, cucumber, olives and feta under a lemon-oregano dressing.
Ingredients
From the TrooFoodz pantry
- Sprouted Foxtail Millet Rava 1½ cups
Fresh
- Cherry tomatoes, halved 250 g
- Cucumber, diced 1
- Red onion, finely sliced ½
- Kalamata olives, pitted ½ cup
- Feta, crumbled 100 g
- Flat-leaf parsley, chopped 1 small bunch
- Mint leaves, torn 1 handful
- Lemon, juiced 1
- Extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp
- Dried oregano 1 tsp
- Garlic, crushed 1 clove
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Method
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Dry-roast the rava
Toast the Sprouted Foxtail Millet Rava in a dry pan over medium heat for three minutes until it smells nutty. This is what keeps the grains separate later.
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Steam it loose
Pour over two cups of boiling salted water, cover and take it off the heat. Leave it eight minutes without lifting the lid.
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Fork it through
Rake the grain with a fork, not a spoon, and spread it on a tray to cool. Cooling flat stops it compacting into a block.
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Make the dressing
Whisk the lemon juice, crushed garlic and oregano with a good pinch of salt, then beat in the olive oil until it thickens slightly.
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Salt the tomatoes
Toss the halved tomatoes and red onion with a pinch of salt and leave five minutes. They release juice that becomes part of the dressing.
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Build the bowl
Fold the cooled grain with half the dressing, then arrange the tomatoes, cucumber, olives and herbs over it in clear sections rather than mixing everything in.
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Finish with feta
Crumble the feta over the top, spoon on the rest of the dressing and grind over black pepper just before serving.
Why this works
Foxtail millet rava is the firmest grain in the rava range, so it absorbs boiling water without collapsing — the reason it behaves like couscous rather than upma here. Toasting first coats each grain in oil-free heat that firms the starch surface. Salting the tomatoes ahead draws out juice that thins the dressing to exactly the right consistency.
Make it your own
- Sprouted Foxtail Millet Rava → Sprouted Jowar Rava Milder and paler; steam for a minute less.
- Feta → Crumbled paneer with extra lemon Less salty, so season the grain a little harder.
- Kalamata olives → Capers, rinsed Sharper and saltier; use half the quantity.
