Little Millet Mocha Magic Pudding

For the pudding:

Soak the little millet in water for three hours, then drain the millet. Discard the water.

Place a pot on the stovetop and turn on the flame. Boil the millet in fresh water for five minutes, then drain the water. Repeat this step. The millet is ready when it can be easily mashed.

The millet will quadruple in weight, and 40 grams of uncooked millet should yield about 160 grams of cooked millet.

Set a saucepan on the stovetop and turn on the flame to low heat. Melt the butter in the saucepan, then add the milk.

Turn off the stove. Stir the cocoa powder and vanilla into the butter and milk mixture. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and salt.

Mix the flour mixture into the saucepan with the butter and milk.

Gently fold in the millets and walnuts into this mixture.

Pour the batter into a well-buttered baking dish. Ideally, use a nine inch square dish that is about inches deep.

Sprinkle brown sugar and cocoa powder evenly on top of the batter. Set aside.

Place another saucepan on the stovetop and turn the flame to medium-high. Boil the water, then stir the instant coffee into the water. Turn off the stove.

Pour the hot coffee over the batter. It should completely cover the batter, and rise at least two centimetres above the pudding mixture so the batter doesn’t dry out.

Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F.

Place the dish in the oven and bake the mocha pudding for 32 minutes. There will be a layer of “sauce” and a layer of cake after baking.

Serve warm, or at room temperature, topped with jowar popcorn.

For the jowar popcorn:

Turn on the stove and heat a heavy bottom pot that has a well fitting lid over medium-high heat. A large pressure cooker will also work.

Add just enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pot.

As soon as you see a light haze from the oil, add the jowar to the pot. The millet must be in a single layer, barely enough to cover the bottom of the pot.

Cover the pot and let the jowar pop.

When the popping sound stops, take the jowar out of the pot.

Continue to do this in batches, until all the jowar is popped.

Place a saucepan on the stovetop on medium-high heat. Add sugar to the pan, and let it caramelise.

Add a blob of butter to the pan and stir the mixture well. Turn off the stove.

Mix the popped jowar and the butter sugar mixture together and quickly spread the coated grains out on a non-stick surface like a silicone mat to cool down.

Break into pieces and use to top off the mocha magic pudding.