Mumbai-based chef Vanika Choudhary is currently fermenting two different kinds of millets at her city restaurant Noon. The city chef, who is the founder of two BKC restaurants, the other being Sequel, has been using millets since she started both her restaurants in the city in the last one year and seven years respectively. She explains, "For finger millet miso, we have taken the whole millet, ambemohar rice koji and fermented it for six months to make a sweet miso which is used in desserts. Another kind of millet miso that we are experimenting with is proso millet with Kashmiri red chillies from my parent`s garden in Jammu, we have fermented this for a year and the result is this bold, earthy, slightly spicy and deeply umami flavour. No one has ever made miso using a millet."

There has been an active buzz around millets since the start of the year. It has been further aided by the fact that the United Nations declared 2023 as the ‘Year of Millets’ after receiving a proposal from India, as our country wished to position itself as a hub for millet from the agricultural aspect. Incidentally, Indians have eaten and enjoyed millets for the longest time because they have been making a variety of dishes not only for breakfast but also for lunch and dinner as it forms an integral part of our diet.