'Non-Dairy Millet Ice Cream' is Not Only Tasty But Nutritious

Can you think of an ice-cream without milk, but is full of fat. Now ice-cream with micronutrient enriched lactose-free low fat  is available having the same taste and flavor. Yes, A special millet-based ice cream, developed by Thanjavur-based Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, was introduced for Delhi market in an ASSOCHAM Food Processing Technologies of CSIR Showcase in the Constitution Club.

According to institute Director C. Anandharamakrishnan, the unique feature of the millet ice cream is that unlike regular ice cream which is milk based, this has “millet milk” (millet extract) which is lactose-free. This will be beneficial for those with high degree of intolerance to lactose. Also, millet ice cream can be had by even the diabetics because of its low glycemic index, according to him.

The millet ice cream has 59 percent  lesser calories and 22 percent  lesser carbohydrates than the regular ice cream and 43 percent  lesser fat than the regular vanilla ice cream. Unlike other ice cream, the millet ice cream has omega-3 fatty acids which are generally not available in vegetarian food. It is priced at Rs. 5 per cone.

Cones for this ice cream have also been developed by the institute using jack fruit fibre. “At present India's total jack fruits production amounts to 1,705 million tonnes; for each kilo of this fruit, only 300 grams account towards useful intake and the rest remains unutilized. IIFPT's jack fruit fibre based cone is an initiative that paves way to make use of what is being discarded as waste. The texture, flavour, aroma, and taste for the cones were highly acceptable and rich in fibre (12.93 percent) and (6.9 percent),” said the director.

The IIFPT has entered into an MoU with Boinpally's Agro Food Products Ltd for supplying non-dairy millet ice cream technology.

“The ice-cream has a very good acceptance in sensory preferences among consumers. The product is first of its kind having high degree of nutrients which supplements the consumers fond of ice-creams especially the growing children,” said C.Anandharamakrishnan, Director of IIFPT.