Millet Munchies

1. Put the millet in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and let the machine run until the kernels get roughed up on the outside and release some “dust,” 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Put the roughed-up millet and coconut milk in a 3-quart pot with a pinch of salt. Fill the coconut milk can with water and gently stir to dissolve the milk clinging to the inside. Measure 1/2 cup of the coconut water into the pot and keep the rest handy by the stove. Add the salt to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring once or twice to prevent sticking. Reduce the heat so it bubbles gently but steadily; give a couple stirs, and cover.
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the millet kernels “explode” and the mixture thickens into a paste the consistency of a textured cookie dough, about 20 minutes. Add water from the can 1 tablespoon at a time to keep the paste moist but not soupy. (After several minutes, the fat from the coconut milk should keep the millet from sticking but check anyway.)
4. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sugar with a soft spatula, pressing the millet-coconut mixture into a paste and adding reserved water from the can of coconut milk, one teaspoon at a time until it’s glossy and slightly damp. Taste and add up to 1/4 cup more sugar or another pinch of salt if you’d like. Cover and let sit while you prepare for making and steaming the packets.
5. Fit a steamer basket into a large pot with a tight-fitting lid or set up a steamer. (Or rig two plates into a pot as shown in the story here.) You want the water to be at least an inch deep and an inch below the food; the less room you have, the more frequently you’ll need to top off the water during cooking. Cut crosswise sheets from a standard roll of parchment paper so you have 6 strips about 10-inch wide in a stack on a clean workspace with the narrow side closest to you.
6. To make the packets, put about 3/4 cup of the millet paste at the near end of the top strip of parchment and spread it into a rectangle about 1 inch thick and 6 inches across. Enclose the paste in the paper by folding, keeping the packets as tight and flat as possible. After one or two turns, fold the edges in toward the center like a burrito and finish folding. Set the packet off to the side, seam side down, and repeat with the remaining paste. Bring the water in the steamer to a boil over high heat.
7. Shingle the packets into the steamer, cover, and adjust the heat so you see some steam wafting from under the lid but the water isn’t boiling vigorously enough to soak the packets. Cook, checking the level of the water occasionally, until the packets are firm to the touch, about an hour but not much more. Transfer the packets to a plate with a spatula. When they’re cool enough to handle, eat them straight from the paper, splashed with a little hot sauce if you like.

—Recipe developed by The Bittman Project for Bob’s Red Mill