Kibidango - Millet Dumplings

I was reading an old Japanese folk tale - Momotaro - to my daughter the other night. The main character fights with ogres in the story. When he told his mom that he is going to fight with ogres, his mom made Kibidango (Millet Dumplings) for him to take....

You will need:

• 1 cup of Millet
• 2 to 3 cups of water

It takes about 25 minutes to cook millet by simmering. I like grainy dumplings so I use 2 cups of water, but you can add more water to make it more mashed potatoes like texture. Once it's done, you mash it and form them into 1/2 inch balls. You get about 40 of them.

I made two dishes using the dumplings - Oshiruko (Sweet Red Bean Soup with Dumplings) and An Dango (Dumplings with Sweet Red Bean Paste Topping) - and put the rest in a freezer!