Pearl Millet (Bajra) Crackers with Sesame Seeds

                               

Bajra Crackers is a healthy and flavorful baked snack made from spiced pearl millet flour and sesame seeds. Both pearl millet and sesame seeds provide warmth to the body and thus these crackers make an ideal Winter snack. These pearl millet crackers are crunchy, utterly delicious and make a perfect tea time accompaniment. The recipe is vegan, gluten-free, diabetic-friendly, figure-friendly and easy to follow. 

             

Health Benefits of Bajra / Pearl Millet

Before moving ahead with the recipe, let's have a look at the various health benefits of including pearl millet / Bajra in our daily diet. 

• Bajra / Pearl millet is a gluten-free grain, low in calories and  packed with healthy nutrients that may contribute to weight loss, improved blood sugar levels and other health benefits. 
• Like most millets, Bajra is a nutrient-dense source of protein, carbs, vitamins, minerals and beneficial plant chemicals.
• Bajra being a rich source of magnesium, it is good for the heart patients, to add bajra to their diet.
• Bajra is a rich source of insoluble fiber, which works as a pre-biotic in our gut, thus helping to keep our digestive health in good form. Insoluble fibers also helps prevent overeating by adding bulk to the meals, leading to early satiety.
• Bajra is packed with Omega-3 fats that have been associated with lowering BP, and triglycerides source

            

What goes into these Pearl Millet / Bajra Crackers? The Ingredients:

• Pearl Millet Flour / Bajre Ka Aata : The key ingredient of these healthy baked crackers is gluten-free pearl millet flour. Try to use freshly milled flour as the pearl millet flour tends to become bitter after few days. I always store the bajra flour packet in the refrigerator to prevent it from getting bitter.
• Sesame seeds / Til : I have used both white and black sesame seeds in these crackers.They add a lovely nutty flavor to the crackers apart from the health benefits.
• Garlic: Garlic adds a nice spicy flavor to the crackers.
• Green chilly: These bajra crackers are spiced with green chilies. However you may use red chili powder instead if you wish to
• Coriander: Fresh coriander leaves add a refreshing flavor to the crackers.
• Sesame Seed Oil : The recipe calls for use of sesame seed oil. Little oil is used to rub the flour to make the dough soft.
• Salt to taste

Pearl millet flour is seasoned with salt and a paste of green chilies, coriander and garlic. Little sesame seeds oil is rubbed to the flour and the flour is kneaded to a slightly stiff dough using warm water. the dough is rested for few minutes and then rolled out into thin sheet. The dough sheet is then cut into desired shapes using knife or cookie cutter and placed on a greased baking tray and baked in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius until they turn crisp from both sides.

            

Related Events: 

#HealthyBakes@FoodieMondayBlogHop

Healthy Bakes is the theme for 275th week on our Facebook gourmet group, Foodie Monday Blog Hop where a bunch of passionate food bloggers share their culinary skills every Monday, depending upon a predetermined theme. Sujata di who blogs at BatterupwithSujata was our hostess for the week. We call her our dessert and baking queen and you will get all varieties of Sandesh and other Bengali Delicacies on her space. She also comes up with healthy bakes each time. I have bookmarked her Multigrain Chocolate Cookies and Sugar-free oats almond cookies to try out soon. Sujata di sproposed that we come up with any sweet or savory bakes using healthy flour, in short any baked food that does not use refined flour. These pearl millet crackers with sesame seeds is my contribution towards the theme.

                                           

This pearl millet (Bajra) cookies is also featured in the A to Z recipe challenge group, where i post every month with a key ingredient starting with a particular alphabet. Going by the alphabetical order, for the month of December we have to cook a dish that uses an ingredient starting with alphabet S. I chose Sesame seeds as my key ingredient and made these pearl millet crackers which uses both sesame seed oil and white and black varieties of sesame seeds. This is my 17th contribution towards the group. The other recipes, i have shared so far are 

• Khao Pad / Vegetarian Thai Fried Rice for alphabet "R"
  
• Mexican One-Pot Quinoa for alphabet "Q"
  
• Potato Cheese Sandwich for alphabet "P"
  
• Bhindi Do Pyaza - Okra Stir-Fry with Onions for alphabet "O"
  
• Baked Nigella Seeds Crackers for alphabet "N"
  
• Kadai Mushroom for alphabet"M"
  
• Lemon Crinkle Cookies for alphabet "L"
  
• Minestrone Soup with Kidney Beans for alphabet "K"
  
• Aliv Kheer / Garden Cress Seeds Jaggery Pudding for alphabet "J"
  
• Ivy Gourd Stir-fry for alphabet "I"
  
• Horsegram Idli / Kulthi Idli  for alphabet "H"
  
• Punjabi Kadhi Pakroa /Gramflour Fritters in Yogurt Gravy  for alphabet "G"
  
• Ankurit Methichi Usal / Sprouted Fenugreek Seeds Stir-Fry for alphabet " F"
  
• Achari Baingan / Eggplant in Pickling Spices for alphabet "E"
  
• Dates and Walnut Muffins for alphabet " D"
• Coconut Curry Leaves Chutney for alphabet "C"
• Broccoli Paneer Paratha for alphabet "B"
  

                                                     

Dietary Notes:

• Gluten-free
• Vegan
• Diabetic Friendly
• Healthy
• Vegetarian Snack

Storage : 

These Pearl Millet (Bajra) Crackers stay good for around 2 weeks at room temperature when placed in an air-tight container.

Serving Suggestions:

• Pearl millet crackers make a good accompaniment with tea or coffee. We enjoy them with our Masala Chai.
• These crackers test best when serve with some creamy dip or Hummus.
• You can pair the crackers with Indian pickles and relish like Raw Mango Chunda, Green Chili Pickle, Amla Pickle, or Instant Oil-free lemon pickle.
• The crackers also taste good with chutneys like No-cook lemon chutney, Spicy Momos Chutney, Kasundi /Indian Mustard Sauce or Plum Chutney

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 17-20 minutes per batch

Serves: 3 cups crackers

Ingredients: 1 Cup = 240 ml

• 2 cup pearl millet / bajra aata
• 3 tablespoon sesame seeds oil
• 2 tablespoon white sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
• 7-8 garlic cloves
• 2-3 green chilies
• Small bunch of fresh coriander leaves
• 1/4 turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Warm water for kneading the dough

Method:

1. Grind coriander, green chili and garlic cloves to a paste using 1 tablespoon water in a grinder jar.

2. Take pearl millet flour in bowl. Add the ground coriander-green chili-garlic paste, turmeric powder , salt and half of the sesame seeds to it. Give a good mix. Now add 3 tablespoon sesame seed oil to it and rub the flour well such that it appears like bread crumbs.

3. Add warm water and knead the flour to a slightly stiff dough. Cover the dough with a muslin cloth and allow it to rest for around 15 minutes. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven at 180 Degrees Celsius.

4. Divide the dough into 3 parts. Take one part and place it between two greased parchment sheets. Roll out the dough using a rolling pin to a thin sheet. Sprinkle little sesame seeds over it and roll once again so that the seeds stick to the dough. Now cut the dough into desired shape. I cut the first batch  using a star shaped cookie cutter and the remaining two batches simply with knife into small rectangles.

5. Carefully lift the dough cutouts with a flat spatula and place it over a greased or line baking tray and bake it for 12 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius in a preheated oven. Flip the crackers after 12 minutes and bake for another 5 minutes. On baking the cookies should appear crisp and not soft. The cookies harden further on cooling. 

6. Bake all the crackers similarly. Allow them to cool down on a wire rack before transferring them to an air-tight container. The crackers stay good for around 2 weeks at room temperature when placed in an air-tight container. Serve the crackers at tea-time or with some cheesy dip, hummus, pickle or simply enjoy them as a healthy guilt-free snack on their own at anytime of the day.

                                    

Recipe Notes:

• Try to use freshly milled pearl millet flour as it tends to become bitter after few days. I always store the bajra flour packet in the refrigerator to prevent it from getting bitter.
• You may substitute the bajra flour with whole wheat flour, multigrain flour or sorghum flour for variation and make the crackers.
• You may skip the addition of garlic for a Jain version.
• You may use red chili powder instead of green chilies as per your spice tolerance.

Would love to hear from you !

I hope you would love trying out this healthy and flavorful pearl millet (Bajra) crackers with sesame seeds as a guilt-free munching snack. If you do so, feel free to share your feedback with use in the form of likes and comments in the section below this post.

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See you soon with yet another healthy and delicious creation from my Kitchen. Until then stay safe and eat right!

Happy Cooking !

Happy Eating!

Regards

Poonam Bachhav

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