Finger Millet (Ragi) Recipes

The rich, dark hue of Ragi on the plate is divine. A good source of dietary calcium, fibre, this grain is very cooling on a hot day.

In most of the recipes calling for ragi flour, you could also use the sprouted and roasted ragi flour, RagiHuriHittu as it is called in Kannada.

Mixed Grain Khichdi

You can prepare this mixture and keep it ready to make khichdi.

Sama – 1 cup
Korra – 1 cup
Broken Ragi / RagiRava – 1 cup
Broken Jowar / JowarRava- 1 cup
Broken Bajra / BajraRava – 1 cup
Varagu – 1 cup
Broken wheat – 1 cup
Rice – 1 cup
Split green mung – 3 cups
Ajwain – 3 tsps or per taste
Sesame Seeds / Til – 4 tsps or as desired
Salt to taste

It is as delicious as it is attractive!

Khichdi:

Multi Grain mix – 1 cup
Water – 3 cups
salt to taste
chopped onions (optional)

Cook the multi grain mix in water. If using onions, saute them and then add the cooked mixture and serve with chutney or buttermilk.

RagiDosa (with Urad Dal)

Urad dal, whole or otherwise – 1 cup
Methi Seeds – 1 tsp
Ragi flour – 2 cups
Salt to taste

Soak the urad dal and methi seeds in water for 8 hrs. Grind, add salt and let ferment overnight or till the batter starts to ferment. Add 2 cups of ragi flour and water for the required consistency. Your dosa batter is ready.

Ragi Buttermilk drink

Ragi flour- 1 tbsp
Water – 1 cup
Buttermilk – 1/2 cup or as desired
Salt to taste

Bring the water to a boil. Mix the ragi flour in some cool water and add this to the boiling water. Stir well to ensure there are no lumps. Simmer till the mixture thickens. Let it cool down completely. Add salt and buttermilk. Mix thoroughly and enjoy a refreshing drink, especially on a hot day.

Orange Cake – Ragi and Atta

This is an intensely orange, refreshing cake. And vegan too.

Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
Ragi flour – 1/2 cup
Jaggery powder or sugar – 3/4 cup
Baking soda – 1 tsp
Baking powder – 1/2 tsp
Fresh squeezed orange juice (with pulp, no problem) – 1 cup
Refined oil – 1/3 cup
2 tbsp grated orange peel/zest. Make sure to remove the bitter pith before chopping the orange peel into fine slices.

1.    Grease a cake pan. Heat oven to 180C.
2. Stir together the flours, jaggery/sugar, baking soda and baking powder until well mixed.

 3. Add the oil and orange zest.

4. Then pour in the orange juice.
5. Stir just enough to combine the ingredients without beating – don’t
overstir – and immediately pour into the prepared baking pan.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes or till the cake tests done.

You can experiment using jowar and bajra flour as well.

RagiAloo Paratha

Ragi flour – 2 cups
Rice flour – 2 tbsp
Potatoes, boiled and mashed – 3 medium
Green chillies – chopped fine, per taste
Coriander leaves – chopped fine
Salt and red chili powder per taste

Mix the ragi flour, rice flour & boiled and mashed potatoes. Add salt and chopped green chili, red chili powder and chopped coriander leaves. Knead the flour and you have the paratha dough ready.

Ragi roti for lazy ‘uns

For folks who don’t want to work on a non-glutinous dough (the dough is not elastic), mix ragi flour and whole wheat flour to make rotis.

I have tried 1/2 ragi, 1/2 whole wheat and 1/3 ragi, 2/3 whole wheat. Rotis in both cases come out quite well.

Mix the flours with warm water and leave aside for 1/2 hour or so. Roll out rotis. Done.

RagiMudde / Kali / Ball

Ragi flour – 1 cup

Water – 2 cups

Wooden buttermilk churner for mixing

Put 1 cup of water to boil. While the water is getting heated, mix 1 cup of ragiflour in 1 cup of water so that there are no lumps. When the water is boiling, add the ragi -water mix to it and stir well on low flame with the wooden churner. Keep stirring till the mixture thickens and there is an aroma of cooked flour. While the mixture is still hot, shape it into balls. In Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,ragimudde / ragi kali is served with a sambar made with different greens.

Ragidosa – Instant

Ragi flour – 2 cups

Buttermilk – 1/2 – 1 cup

Jeera – 1 tbsp

Chopped green chillies

Water

Salt to taste

Mix the above ingredients till you have a ravadosa kind of pouring consistency. Leave aside for 1/2 hour to an hour. The key is to pour out dosas on a very hot pan. A couple of attempts and you get the hang of it.

Ragidosa for lazy ‘uns

ID Special Dosa Mix or whatever ready-made mix you use – 1kg

Ragi flour – 1 cup (experiment with this quantity based on your taste and preference of texture).

Water as required.

Add the ragi flour to the ID dosa mix. Let the mixture ferment overnight. Add salt, pour our dosas.

Ragi Porridge

Ragi (finger millet) powder – 4 tbsp

Jaggery – 4 tbsp

Water – 2 cups

Milk – 1/2 cup (optional)

Boil the jaggery in water and strain out any impurities. Mix the ragi powder with some cool water to ensure there are no lumps. Boil the jaggery water (and milk) and then add the ragi water. Let it simmer till porridge starts to thicken. Add milk or water to get the required consistency.