Its an amazing source of fiber. Its also has protein, iron and potassium. Not really sure about sugar though. Google says it has some amount of it(~1.5g per cup). But there are some websites that state it has 0g of sugar.

Anyway, this was the first time I ever tried making this. And i actually liked it!! Although a little bland, you can add salt, fruits or anything else to make it taste even better. It has a blank canvas and tastes a lot like rice. So you can really experiment with this. 

For now, Lets look into the recipe of Barley meal. Its a 2 step process.

The below quantity is good for one person. 

Ingredients: 

• Barley powder:
• 1/4 cup of pearl barley
• Barley meal:
• 2 heaped tsps of barley powder (or more based on your preference)
• 1/4 cup of milk (you can add as much or as little as you like) 
• 1 cup of water (for soupy consistency)
• salt to taste

• To make barley powder:
• This is a one step process. All you need to do is powder the barley using a mixie. I use preethi mixie. You could use any appliance you are comfortable with.

• I made mine fine to coarse as you can see in the image below. But its upto you on how fine or coarse you like it. 

• This makes a good quantity for about a week's usage. 

• To make the barley meal:
• Bring the water to a boil.

• Add the barley powder. Stir it well and let simmer for about 10 mins. Now, I learnt this the hard way, barley will form lumps if you add it directly to hot water and let sit. You need to keep stirring continuously while adding the powder. I was busy taking pictures of what I did ;) Or you could even pre-mix the powder with a little water and then add the mixture to boiling water. 

• After about 10 mins, you'd notice its cooked through and at this point, add the milk, stir and let simmer for another 2 mins. 

• You now have a completed dish. Add salt and drink up. This is more like a soup. If you like to have cereal consistency, reduce the water content to half. But its nice to drink up. Easy and fast ;)

Please give this a try and let us know what you think about it :)