From jowar vegetable upma to bajra khichdi, ragi ladoo to bajre ka choorma — these will soon find a place on the menu of Parliament House canteens, alongside traditional favourites biryani and cutlets.As the government promotes the production and consumption of millets – on Sunday, in his Mann Ki Baat address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said every G20 summit event in India would feature millet dishes — Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has sought a special millet menu for Members of Parliament, who will now get to choose from the new menu, besides the old one.
On the millet menu are bajre ki raab (soup), ragi dosa, ragi ghee roast, ragi thatte idli, jowar vegetable upma as starters, and, for the main course, sarson ka saag with makka/bajra/jowar ki roti (choose your bread), ragi poori with aloo ki sabzi, mix millet khichdi and bajra khichdi with garlic chutney. The desserts include kesari kheer, ragi walnut ladoo and bajre ka choorma.Sources said the à la carte menu has been drawn up in a way that reflects the country’s culinary diversity — oats milk, soya milk, ragi matar ka shorba, bajra onion ka muthiya (Gujarat), shahi bajre ki tikki (Madhya Pradesh), ragi dosa with peanut chutney (Kerala), along with amaranth salad and korra millet salad.The menu has been prepared by ITDC’s Montu Saini, who was executive chef for five-and-a-half years with Rashtrapati Bhavan, serving during the tenures of both Pranab Mukherjee and Ram Nath Kovind. ITDC has been running Parliament’s canteens since 2020.Saini said the millet menu also reflected popular demand since it drew from the response to the lunch that was hosted for MPs in the inner courtyard of Parliament House during the Winter Session. “The most sought after items were ragi walnut ladoo and bajre ke raab,” he said.