Neutral millet do not have layer of husk so it is easy to process them for human consumption and all that is requires is just usual cleaning of the grains. Positive millet (also called Siridhanya Millet) have a layer of husk (fiber) that need to be removed (hulled, de-husked).
There are many traditional methods to de-husk millet grains, most common ones are –
- Hand-pounded Millet – Hand pounded millet grain retain most of bran (fiber). It is labor intensive exercise, as it is produced by hand pounding using wooden mortar and pestle or stone grinders. All types of millet in the ancient times were hand pounded. These are the supreme and best grains as it retains 100% of the human digestible fiber.
- Buchchi Method (of de-husking millet) – This is the second best method to de-husk the millet grain. Millet grain is de-hulled using custom mixer called Buchi Mixie which has a regulated speed as well as blunt blade. Dr. Khadar used to be concerned about the possibility of processing siridhanya grain into rice at home. He experimented with his elder sisters Mrs. Mahebunni and Mrs. Khasimbi to find an easy way at home. Mrs. Mahebunni succeeded in finding a better and easy alternative and developed a method using the domestic food mixer. As she is was fondly called ‘Buchchi’ by Dr. Khadar, he named this method of husking siridhanya grain as Buchchi Method (also called sometimes as Buchi Method)
- Machine Processed Millet (Unpolished Millet) – Various types of commercial machines are used to de-husk the millet grain – when the light processing takes place, it still retains the vital outer fiber layer of the millet grain.
- Machine Processed Millet (Polished Millet) – Various types of commercial machines are used to de-husk the millet grain, in some cases even chemicals are used to clean grain as that enhances the shelf life of grain – this type of processing takes away most of top layer of bran/fiber hence it is also called ‘Polished’
