Instant Ragi-Oats Idli

Ragi or Finger millet is my favorite millet and I try to include it to my breakfast atleast twice a week. So while hunting for interesting Ragi recipes, I hit upon ragi dhokla in archanaskitchen.com and got inspired to try out this idli. A power packed breakfast to kick start your day!

INGREDIENTS:

• Ragi (finger millet) flour - 1 cup
• Rava (sooji/fine semolina) - 1 cup
• Quick cooking oats - 1 cup
• Salt - as needed
• Red chilli powder - 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon
• Sour Yogurt - 1 cup **
• Eno fruit salt (regular) - 1 teaspoon or baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Oil - 1 tablespoon

For seasoning

• oil - 1 teaspoon
• Curry leaves - a few
• Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Sesame seeds - 1 teaspoon

**If you do not have sour curd, then you can squeeze a little lemon or add 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid

METHOD:

1. Mix ragi flour, rava and oats togther. Add in salt and red chilli powder
2. Add oil and yogurt to the dry mixture and mix well. Add water and bring to a thick batter consistency
3. Now add eno fruit salt to the batter and sprinkle water on it. When it starts to bubble, mix very gently and immediately pour in greased idli trays and steam for 10-12 minutes
4. Remove from heat, let it cool for 2 minutes and then demould the idlis
5. Heat oil and add the ingredients for seasoning. When the mustard seeds splutter, pour them over the idlis
6. Serve with any chutney of your choice

Thinai Payasam | Foxtail millet Kheer

Recently, at home, we have started including a variety of millets in our daily cooking. Mom makes tasty and healthy dishes like upma, dosa, pongal etc with millets! So, as we gear up for the festive season of Navarathiri, I decided to try out something sweet with foxtail millet (Thinai in Tamil) and came across the recipe in Padhu's Kitchen. I have modified the quantities and proportion according to my preference. If you are looking for a healthy and tasty prasad (divine offering), for the festive occasion, then this is a perfect recipe for you!

INGREDIENTS:

• Foxtail millet/Thinai - 1 measure *
• Water - 4 measures
• Jaggery - 2 measures **
• Ghee - 1 tablespoon
• Cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Raisins/Cashewnuts/Almonds - as needed for garnish
• Milk - as needed

* The proportion for Thinai : Water : Jaggery  is 1:4:3 , A quarter cup of Thinai will be perfect to serve 4 (In that case, you need to use 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of jaggery)

** The jaggery I used was sweet enough. So this quantity was perfect for me, you can increase it to 2.5 measures

METHOD:

1. Melt ghee in a pan and fry the cashewnuts, almonds and raisins (I did not add cashews)
2. Remove the nuts from the pan and in the same pan, roast the millet, till a nice aroma arises. You can add more ghee if you wish to
3. Pressure cook the roasted millet with 4 cups of water for 4 whistles
4. In the meanwhile, add a quarter cup of water to jaggery and heat it for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and allow the jaggery to melt. Then strain the jaggery to remove any impurities
5. Mix the cooked millet, melted jaggery and cook on a medium flame. Allow it to boil well
6. Now add the fried nuts, cardamom powder and remove from heat
7. Add milk according to the consistency and sweetness that you require (I added about half a cup of milk)
8. Serve warm or chilled :)

Bajri no Rotlo (Millet flat bread)

Bajri no rotlo is a traditional Gujarati dish which is a millet roti or flat bread. Millets come with a wide range of health benefits and it is very good for weight watchers and diabetic people. This is the first time I have tasted bajra roti and I liked it a lot. I made it along with kadhi and Tindora (Kovakkai) subji but the traditional way of serving bajri no rotlo is with a spoonful of ghee and jaggery (Yumm :P )

INGREDIENTS:

• Bajra flour (Millet flour) - 3 cups
• Water - 1 and 1/2 cups
• Salt - 1/2 Tsp
• Oil - very little for pan frying

METHOD:

1. Mix the flour, salt and water and knead it well into a soft dough
2. Allow it to rest for 20 minutes
3. Divide the dough into small balls and roll them into thick rotis
4. If the dough sticks to your working area, place a cling flim and roll out the rotis over it
5. Pan fry the rotis on both sides with very little oil
6. Serve hot

Accompaniments options:

• Ghee and Jaggery
• Tindora nu shaak
• Kadhi