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    Home » Siru Thaniyangal | Millets » Pearl Millet Gruel / Kambu Koozh

    Pearl Millet Gruel / Kambu Koozh

    Posted on August 8, 2018 · Last Updated on April 2, 2020 · By Srividhya G · 25 Comments

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    Let’s get back to our roots and make this healthy and filling breakfast from scratch which is perfect for the summer. It is the Pearl Millet gruel or as we say in Tamil Kambu Koozh. Learn how to prepare this humble millet gruel right from roasting to milling with step-wise pictures below.

    top angle of bajra porridge

    Disclosure: This is not a paid partnership. I received this product for review from the WonderMill, but the opinions and thoughts expressed here are my own.

    Koozh or gruel is thick consistency porridge. Kambu Koozh is a very common breakfast in rural parts of Tamil Nadu especially during summer months. Bajra combined with buttermilk is an excellent coolant and keeps your body hydrated in hot summer months. The probiotics in the buttermilk clean the unhealthy bacteria, in turn, helping with our digestion. It also helps with acidity troubles. Try this gruel instead of smoothies, and I am sure you will love it.

    Pearl Millet | Bajra

    Pearl Millet is known as Bajra in India and India is the largest producer of pearl millet, and Rajasthan is the highest producing state. It is one of the common millet available in India. Sadly, like all the other millet recipes, this gruel is also segregated as poor man’s diet. But as I mentioned in the neeragaram post, the traditional and millet recipes are slowly reviving back. Just look at the nutrition information (Source Wiki) of Pearl Millet, especially the protein content. Why not incorporate it into our daily menu?

    • Protein(g) – 10.6
    • Fiber(g) – 1.3
    • Minerals(g) – 2.3
    • Iron(mg) – 16.9
    • Calcium(mg) – 38

    Health Benefits of Pearl Millets

    • The niacin in these millets helps to reduce cholesterol and magnesium helps to lower blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart attacks.
    • The high fiber content helps in keeping the glucose level normal.
    • It helps in weight loss and also helps to cure stomach ulcers and gallbladder stones.

    As I mentioned above, I made this gruel from scratch. I roasted the millets and ground them and then made this gruel. Wondering how I ground my millet? – It is with the WonderMill.

    WonderMill – Electric Grain Mill

    This year, I got a chance to attend the Everything Food Blogging | EFC conference in Utah. That’s where I met the fantastic team of WonderMill and saw the full demo of the product. I was super thrilled, and when I got a chance to work with them, I happily accepted.wondermill grinderWonderMill is a fast (instead I should say super fast) electric grain mill. You can now grind your own flours; be it fine, superfine or coarse at temperatures that preserve nutrients. That’s what we all are looking for right? We all want to know what goes into our food. With store-bought flours, we don’t know about all the other ingredients that got processed in the same machine. This becomes a significant concern if you have any food allergies. But now with WonderMill, you can prepare your own flour; be it gluten-free or non-gluten-free.

    The power of WonderMill Motor is 1250 watt, and it is the powerful micronizing mill available. The WonderMill can grind wheat, corn, rice, legumes, beans, and of course millets. For me, wheat, millets, and rice were the main ingredients as we use the flours regularly for roti and dosa. But you can find the list of grains that it can grind on this website.

    I was curious to know if it can grind spices including red chilies. But apparently, it is hard to grind red chilies as it might clog. But as long as the spices don’t produce oil, you can grind in WonderMill. I wanted to prepare Indian spice mixes with red chilies. I will keep you posted on that so stay tuned.

    The Pros and Cons:

    • It’s light-weight, and there isn’t much assembling work. Also, the mess-free flour preparation is a huge plus. The sponge on top of the flour canister avoids the dust too.
    • It is super-fast. It grinds the ingredients in seconds. I am yet to try beans and legumes. Hopefully, it crushes them fast as well.
    • When I talk about pros, I need to talk about the cons also. It definitely makes a huge noise. I won’t say it’s quite. I wish it could grind red chilies as well so that I make sambar powder and rasam powder in bulk.
    • When compared to other electric mills, the price is considerably low and affordable.

    wondermillAs always, I will add my thoughts to the upcoming recipes with WonderMill.

    Preparing the Pearl Millet Flour in WonderMill:

    • Take 2 to 3 cups of pearl millet and dry roast on a pan without adding any oil.

    roasting kambu

    • Roast until the millet starts to pop. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool.

    roasted bajra

    • Once it is cool, fix the flour canister (you can add a bag/cover to the canister which helps to transfer the flour easily, but I did not add) to the mill and turn on the WonderMill. I set to the Bread Mode setting. Then slowly add the roasted millet, and in less than two minutes the flour is ready.

    adding roasted pearl millets in the wondermill

    • Sieve the flour (there was hardly any bran left) and store in an airtight container.

    making pearl millet flour

    The millets don’t spill and also the flour is all contained within the canister. No dust and the flour were ready without any mess.

    How to make Kambu Koozh?

    Now coming back to the recipe, all you need to do mix 1 cup of bajra flour with water and cook it till it thickens. Once it cools down add the buttermilk and mix well. That’s it the koozh is ready. It is as simple as that. Check out the notes section for other variations.

    Ingredients:

    • Pearl Millet Flour – 1 cup
    • Buttermilk – 2 cups
    • Water – 3 cups + 1 cup
    • Salt – ¾ tsp
    • Shallots – 3 to 4
    • Cilantro – 3 tbsps

    Steps

    • Mix the bajra flour and water in a pot.

    kambu koozh preparation

    • Mix well with hand and make sure there are no lumps in the bajra mixture.
    • Now in a medium heat start cooking this bajra-water mixture.

    kambi kanji preparation

    • Keep stirring the mixture till it thickens up. It takes about 12 to 15 minutes.

    thick pearl millet gruel

    • Now turn off the heat and let it cool.
    • Once it is cooled down add the buttermilk, salt, and water if required and mix well so that the bajra mixture integrates well with the buttermilk.

    pearl millet porridge after adding buttermilk

    • Now add the chopped shallots and cilantro.

    kambu koozh after adding buttermilk

    • That’s it the gruel is ready. Serve cold.

    kambu koozh in a clay pot and clay tumbler

    Notes:

    • Ensure you mix the water and bajra flour thoroughly without any lumps.
    • Also, keep stirring the mix until it thickens.
    • Adjust the salt as per your taste and water according to your consistency preference.
    • Variations:
    • Instead of buttermilk and salt, you can add milk and sugar to make sweet porridge.
    • While cooking the flour, you can add about a tsp of oil and allow it to thicken and once cooled, you can make small balls and relish it with any curry.

    📖 Recipe

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    5 from 1 vote

    Pearl Millet Gruel | Kambu Koozh

    A healthy and filling breakfast prepared with pearl millet flour and buttermilk from scratch. A perfect summer coolant.
    Prep Time30 minutes mins
    Cook Time30 minutes mins
    Resting Time40 minutes mins
    Total Time1 hour hr
    Course: Breakfast
    Cuisine: Indian
    Servings: 3
    Calories: 239kcal
    Author: Srividhya G

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup Pearl Millet Flour
    • 2 cups Buttermilk
    • 4 cups Water
    • ¾ tsp Salt
    • 4 Shallots
    • 3 tbsps Cilantro

    Instructions

    • Mix the bajra flour and water in a pot.
    • Mix well with hand and make sure there are no lumps in the bajra mixture.
    • Now in a medium heat start cooking this bajra-water mixture.
    • Keep stirring the mixture till it thickens up. It takes about 12 to 15 minutes.
    • Now turn off the heat and let it cool.
    • Once it is cooled down add the buttermilk, salt, and water if required and mix well so that the bajra mixture integrates well with the buttermilk.
    • Now add the chopped shallots and cilantro.
    • That’s it the gruel is ready. Serve cold.

    Notes

    • Ensure you mix the water and bajra flour thoroughly without any lumps.
    • Also, keep stirring the mix until it thickens.
    • Adjust the salt as per your taste and water according to your consistency preference.
    • Variations:
    • Instead of buttermilk and salt, you can add milk and sugar to make sweet porridge.
    • While cooking the flour, you can add about a tsp of oil and allow it to thicken and once cooled, you can make small balls and relish it with any curry.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 239kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 770mg | Potassium: 327mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 290IU | Vitamin C: 2.6mg | Calcium: 206mg | Iron: 0.4mg

    I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

    Tried this recipe?Mention @vidhyasvegetariankitchen or tag #vidhyasvegkitchen
    For Video RecipesCheck out My YouTube Channel

     

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    Filed Under: Breakfast / Tiffins, Siru Thaniyangal | Millets Tagged With: bajra porridge, Diabetic Friendly recipes, Kambu koozh, millet recipes, pearl millet gruel

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Anu says

      May 18, 2021 at 8:08 pm

      I just add a tsp of mint chutney to the tall glass of porridge and it spice it up nicely.

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        May 19, 2021 at 12:12 pm

        That’s nice.

        Reply
    2. perfuraindia says

      June 08, 2020 at 4:55 am

      Quite interesting. Nice dish! Keep rocking.

      Reply
    3. Shweta Mohil says

      September 10, 2019 at 11:19 pm

      5 stars
      This is yummy in rajasthan we call it as rabri ..in summer we use to make it n keep it overnight n then dilute it with buttermilk , add roasted cumin seed and drink it is so so yummy n after drinking this drink you sleep like anything …..thanks for sharing i love it n surely make it

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        September 11, 2019 at 8:29 am

        oh wow thanks for sharing the information. Adding roasted cumin seed would definitely enhance the flavor. I will try it as well. Thanks again!

        Reply
      • Dido says

        February 22, 2021 at 9:40 pm

        Shweta: I have a question about the Koozh being kept overnight. Is it kept this way after cooking it? Or is it kept mixed with water overnight, then cooked in the morning? I see a fermentation effort there in the overnight keeping. But am not sure how. Hence, my question. Thanks, Dido.

        Reply
        • Srividhya G says

          February 23, 2021 at 8:44 am

          I think we just cook the millet flour and leave it overnight. In the morning we then add the buttermilk and other condiments. That’s how we do for ragi gruel.

          Reply
    4. Jolly says

      July 01, 2016 at 11:37 pm

      Sounds new & interesting recipe for me Sri….looks delicious & healthy breakfast !!

      Reply
      • Srividhya G says

        July 02, 2016 at 1:40 pm

        Thanks a lot :-)

        Reply
    5. Traditionally Modern Food says

      September 24, 2015 at 1:54 pm

      Healthy and filling breakfast dear.. This s cool (koozh)idea

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        September 25, 2015 at 8:11 am

        he he thanks

        Reply
    6. Anu Nagaraja says

      September 24, 2015 at 4:05 am

      The Kambu Koozh is such a great breakfast idea. Healthy and filling. It sounds similar to ragi porridge. I love simple breakfast recipe ideas. Wishing I could have it now.. Thanks for sharing Vidhya and i like the pictures with the steps. Very helpful.

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        September 24, 2015 at 1:28 pm

        Thanks Anu

        Reply
    7. veena says

      September 23, 2015 at 11:30 pm

      Healthy and cooling breakfast.. Very filling too

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        September 24, 2015 at 1:29 pm

        Hi Veena.. Welcome to my blog and thanks for your wonderful comment

        Reply
    8. CHCooks says

      September 23, 2015 at 11:09 pm

      This is such a healthy recipe :) I love Ragi Koozhu but never have tried kambu koozhu, will try your recipe :)

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        September 24, 2015 at 1:31 pm

        Yeah.. Pretty much similar like ragi koozh dan

        Reply
    9. Suchitra says

      September 23, 2015 at 8:26 pm

      Your bajra gruel is very similar to the Ragi porridge that we make. Extremely healthy and very cooling to the body. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        September 23, 2015 at 8:34 pm

        Yup pretty much the same Su. Thanks

        Reply
    10. Divine Spice Box says

      September 23, 2015 at 4:20 pm

      sounds interesting. Never tried this dish but it looks so healthy ! Yum

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        September 23, 2015 at 4:23 pm

        Thanks Prachi. :-)

        Reply
    11. apsara says

      September 23, 2015 at 4:03 pm

      I have never thought of using kambu flour in a porridge type of dish. Sounds like a really healthy and simple breakfast idea! Love your presentation bowls.

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        September 23, 2015 at 4:07 pm

        Thanks Apsara. It was a gift from one of the blogger friend. And yeah this Koozh is very popular in rural areas.

        Reply
    12. parvathy84 says

      September 23, 2015 at 1:50 pm

      I love koozhu any time vidhya . Brilliant way to use the flour and such an easy recipe . My favorite summer drink

      Reply
      • Vidhya@VVK says

        September 23, 2015 at 4:07 pm

        Thanks a lot Paro..

        Reply
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