This is a basic recipe for fermented millet that can be used as a base for all sorts of other dishes. See the section above for six different ways to serve millet.
Mix the millet and water in a glass container for fermenting. You can add 2 Tbsp of culture to speed up the fermentation, or leave it to naturally ferment.
Cover the container with a tea towel and leave it to ferment on the counter for 2-5 days. Stir with a clean fork once per day to encourage fermentation.
Cooking
When you’re ready to cook the millet, drain off the fermenting liquid.
Put drained millet and 2 1/2 cups of water into a pot and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed (about 15 minutes).
Stir in salt and any additional flavors (see notes for suggestions).
Notes
An added culture is not necessary. Millet will naturally pick up a sourdough culture after about 3 days. However, if you want the fermentation to go quickly add 2 tablespoons of fermented liquid like kombucha or milk kefir.
I recommend draining away the fermenting liquid and using fresh liquid for cooking. It helps to drain off the excess starch.
Depending on how I’m going to serve the millet, I like to stir in a bit of flavor at the end of cooking. Just add flavors right after cooking as millet becomes thick and sticky as it cools.
Adding a 1/4 cup of butter or oil will make a smooth and creamy cereal. It’s nice to add 1/4 cup of fresh chopped herbs or a few cloves of finely diced garlic for savory millet dishes.