US-India: Millet sur mera tumhara; after yoga, ragi?

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WASHINGTON: There will literally be a grain of truth to the idea of the US going all out to court Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the hosts rolling out two millet-based dishes at the state dinner on Thursday, both in deference to his vegetarian diet and his global promotion of millets.
The menu for the state dinner released by the White House shows a first course of marinated millet and grilled corn kernel salad and a main course of stuffed portobello mushrooms with “creamy saffron-infused risotto” accompanied by “crisped millet cakes” and summer squashes.

Similar to the yoga outreach, the United Nations has designated 2023 as the International Year of Millets, apparently at the initiative of India, which is the world’s leading millet producer accounting for about 20 percent of the global output. Considered a “pleb” food eaten mainly by rural communities in India, millets are now seen as “superfood” among the world’s elites for its nutritional value. In the US, a 28oz (about 800 gms) bag of millet retails for upto $ 10.

Not everyone will be forced to go for the mainly vegetarian fare; First Lady Jill Biden, who previewed the menu (for which the Bidens brought in California-based Nina Curtis, a specialist in plant-based foods) said upon request guests can have sumac-roasted sea bass (a kind of fish).

Also in recognition of Modi’s Gujarat roots, wines served with the dinner includes a Patel Red Blend 2019 from a Napa Valley (California) winery owned by

Raj Patel, a former wealth management executive who founded Patel Winery in 2007. Dessert is rose and cardamom-infused strawberry shortcake.
“We have curated a menu that really showcases the best in American cuisine, also seasoned with Indian elements and flavors,” Curtis told reporters.

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There will be several other Indian touches, with the pavilion hosting dinner draped in greens and saffrons, a nod to the Indian flag. Lotus blooms will inspire the decor and tables, and the bald eagle and peacock — national birds of the two countries — will form the backdrop for toasts by the president and the prime minister.
Entertainment will include Joshua Bell, an American violinist and conductor, as well as Penn Masala, a South Asian a cappella group. “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band Chamber Orchestra, America’s oldest continuously playing professional music group, will also perform.
“Tomorrow night, guests will walk across the South Lawn, into a pavilion draped in rich greens with saffron flowers at every table, the colors of the Indian flag,” First Lady Jill Biden, who oversaw the arrangements by White House Social Secretary Carlos Elizondo working with design firm David Stark, said.
The First Lady herself took a lead role on Wednesday accompanying Prime Minister Modi for an event at the National Science Foundation, an $8 billion independent agency that funds approximately 25% of all federally supported basic research conducted in US colleges and universities. The NSF is currently headed by Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan, an alumnus of IIT Chennai and IISC Bangalore.
An academic herself with a Ph.D in education, Dr Biden characterised education as “a cornerstone of the bond between India and the United States—one we hope to keep building and strengthening with this visit.”





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