Millet. When talking about millet the first thing which comes to mind - bird food. But millet is much more! On this website we provide the information about millet grain - one of the oldest staples used by people for many thousands of years. How old? Very old. It was mentioned in the Bible together with other basic staples at that time: Ezekiel 4 (King James Version) Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof. As a matter of fact, based on archeological findings, millet is probably the first grain used to make a bread or kasha. Some millet findings in Asia and Africa go as far as 4500BC. But why millet is so popular for so long? It could be explained by that millet is very easy to grow - it thrives in very hot and dry climate, and poorly fertilized soils. Here is a fact: currently only 10% of Pearl millet in Africa is grown on irrigated land. At the same time millet has an exceptional nutrition value. It also has very short growth cycle.  All these millet features become very important at the times when agricultural techniques are primitive and having food is the most important thing for people. By the way, even now millet is the primary food source for many people in Asia and Africa. Millet is relatively easy to cook. The basic recipe includes nothing but millet itself and water. But by changing cooking times and water ratios as well as by adding simplest ingredients like butter, salt, sugar and some spices you can drastically change the taste. Here is the simplest way to cook millet - the way it was cooked for hundreds of years. At the same time  millet is a very versatile grain and can be used in variety of delicious, nutritious and healthy meals including simple recipes for kids. Today, around the world, millet is used on daily basis by more than third of world population. In Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe millet is widely used in many forms like cereal, bread, in soup, side dish, or kasha. It also starts to catch up in US and other parts of the world. There are different varieties of millet: Pearl, Foxtail, Proso, and Finger Millet. While it differs from country to country, the most popular variety for cooking is Pearl, the largest grain by size. As mentioned before, millet is a true whole grain and can be included in the list of heart-healthy and weigh loss choices.  Also, some latest research suggests that this whole grain may lower risk of Type 2 diabetes , lower high cholesterol, and help with improvement of some allergies and skin conditions.    Let see what is inside of millet seed and check out our delicious, healthy and easy vegetarian and vegan recipes. For more info on benefits of whole grains and whole grain recipes you can visit Aboutkasha.com or WholeGrainsCouncil.org NEXT: NUTRITION VALUE OF MILLET