Ragi thattai / kezhvaragu thattai

Lord krishna is calling.. Hope everyone is busy preparing snacks or neivedhyam for janmashtami which is tomorrow. I just made these crispy thattais using Ragi flour. Normally we make with rice flour or even maida.. But this Ragi thattai is easy to make and also healthy for eating. On the name of lord krishna , we consume snacks on this day. We make Seedai, murukku, thattai, Vella Seedai, palkova, 

Recipe for thattai :

Ingredients : 

Ragi flour - one cup

Moong dal - one tbsp( soaked)

Chilly powder -1/2 tsp

Salt

Asafotida - 1 tsp

Curry leaves 

Oil

Water

Method : 

In a wide vessel, add the above ingredients one by one.

Heat oil in a pan, once it is hot. Take a tbsp of oil and pour it in the vessel with ingredients.

Knead the mixture into a soft dough. Make small balls out of it.

Take a plastic cover or Ziplock and place the balls and flat with your palm or fingers to make thattai.

Place in the hot oil and fry.

Flip on both the sides and fry till crisp and till the bubbles reduce.

Remove it from the oil and place it on the kitchen towels to remove excess oil and transfer into a air tight box.

Yummilicious thattai ready for lord krishna!

Thinai Adai / foxtail millet Adai

Adai is a healthy tiffin made out of mixed pulses. We can make Adai in all the combinations we want. There is no specific recipe for this particular dish. We can keep changing every time we grind or mix it. We can make it with or without rice, we can change the pulses. We can also add veggies on Adai. I love to murungakeerai to the Adai. It's healthy as well as tasty to eat with anything. Today made Adai using Thinai. It was very crispy and tasty. Do try this out.

Ingredients:

• Gram Dal - 1/2 cup
• Toor dal - 1/2 cup
• Moong dal - 1/2 cup
• Thinai / foxtail millet - 1 cup
• Salt
• Red Chilly 3-4
• Coconut Oil
• Curry leaves
• Asafoedita

Method:

• Wash and soak gram dal, toor dal , moong dal separately. 
• Wash and soak Thinai separately.
• Grind all the ingredients in the mixer grinder separately and keep the batter outside to ferment. Grind it coarsely.
• Heat tava and Put Adai using Coconut oil. I have added drumstick leaves on top of Adai. It enhances the taste of Adai.

• Flip the adais on both the sides and make it crispy.   

• Crispy crunchy Adai ready to be served with tomato garlic thokku.

Ragi murukku / kezhvaragu murukku

Diwali is just 2 days away and all of us are busy preparing sweets and savouries. Ragi murukku was in my to do list when the Ragi Omapodi was a hit in my house. So crispy, delicious. Ragi murukku was also enjoyed by my hubby and daughter. Verdict from hubby : yum it is without oil. Guys do try it out this healthy snack no share with your friends.

Ingredients :

• Ragi - 1 cup
• Rice flour - 1/2 cup
• Besan flour - 1 /4 cup
• Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
• Salt
• Water
• Oil
• Asafoedita -1/2tsp

Method :

In a wide vessel, add rice flour, besan flour, Ragi flour .

Add cumin seeds, asafodita, required salt.

Heat a tbsp of oil and pour it in the flour mixture. Knead the dough by adding required water. Make a soft dough.

Heat oil in a pan, take the murukku press put the star nozzle and take a ball of dough and fill in the mould. 

Close and press the mould inside the hot oil. Deep fry and strain it.

Store in a airtight box for a week, it will stay crispy!

Kambu Ma ladoo / Bajra ladoo / pearl millet ladoo

Bajra is one of the oldest millet used by our ancestors. Along with wheat flour even bajra was included in the regular diet. It is known to have a very high fiber content which makes it healthier. It is used as a regular meal in places like Rajasthan, Gujarat. Now a day’s it is gaining its importance back.

Now Bajra are recommended by many health professionals, Dieticians and Nutritionist because of its various health benefits. It is also not very expensive millet which can reduce its consumption. People are becoming more and more conscious about the fact of bajra having various good effects on the body.

Dieticians and Nutritionist are trying their best to promote this particular millet and increase its consumption by educating its benefits among all groups of people. Awareness among the people helps to create a positive attitude towards this millet. It is also called as pearl millet. It is not expensive like pearl but it’s definitely has pearl like quality which is beneficial to the body. 

Source : nutrichoice4u.com

Here is another sweet for Diwali using pearl millet. As you know the benefits of it. Why not have a healthy Diwali ? Recipe is here.

Ingredients :

• Bajra flour - 1 1/2 cup
• Sugar powder - 1 cup
• Ghee  - required to make ladoo
• Cardamom powder - required
• Cashews

Method :

• Heat a pan, add 3 tsp of ghee , add the broken cashews and fry it well. Take the cashews and keep it aside. 
• In  the same pan, in the remaining ghee add the Bajra flour and roast it in a pan till the raw smell of the flour vanishes and the color changes a bit.
• Take the roasted flour and sugar powder together in a vessel.
• Add cardamom powder to the mixture.
• Mix it well. Add the fried cashews and press on the ladoo while making balls.
• Add required ghee and make balls or ladoos using hand.
• Make the ladoo said while the flour is hot. 

Yummy and soft Ma ladoo ready !

Ragi Omapodi / kezhavaragu omapodi

Today I am posting a savoury dish for this Diwali. This Ragi omapodi was a long time pending dish in my list. When's I tried it, I was too happy with the outcome. When compared to ordinary omapodi it is very easy to prepare and tastier than that and also healthier than the normal one, it's my favourite and my dads fav too.. It takes a very less time to fry and the crispness just stays even when kept for 4-5 days in an air tight container.

Do try this for Diwali and share your valuable feedback!

Ingredients:

• Ragi - 1 cup
• Rice flour - 1/4 cup
• Besan flour - 1 cup
• Chilly powder -1tsp or Omam - 1tsp or Omam water - 2 tsp
• Salt
• Water
• Oil
• Asafoedita -1/2tsp

Method :

In a wide vessel, add rice flour, besan flour, Ragi flour .

Add chilly powder or ajwain seeds, asafodita, required salt.

Heat a tbsp of oil and pour it in the flour mixture. Knead the dough by adding required water. Make a soft dough.

Heat oil in a pan, take the murukku pressing put the omapodi nozzle and take a ball of dough and fill in the mould. 

Close and press the mould inside the hot oil. Deep fry and strain it.

Store in a airtight container. It will stay for a week.

Crispy crunchy omapodis with Ragi!

How to make kozhukattai rice flour using Kodo millet/ varagarisi

.

Vinayagar chathurthi is on September 17th this year. Kozhukkattais will be there for neivedhyam in all your houses. Usually we make kozhukkattai using plain rice flour. This year I have planned to make kozhukkattai using millet flour . I make using Kodo millet or varagarisi in Tamil for making the outer cover of the kozhukkattai. I have already prepared the flour for that. Here is how to go about for making the flour.

Ingredients : 

• Varagu arisi or Kodo millet - 1 cup
• Water

Method:

• Take one cup of millet in a vessel. Wash it twice to clean the dust that is there in the millet.
• Soak the millet in water for one hour.
• Strain the millet with a strainer .let all the excess water be strained.

• Take a white cloth or a nice dhoti and spread the strained millet and allow it to dry for 30-45 mins.

After 45 mins, put the dried millet into a mixer and grind it into a smooth flour. The millet will be little moist only. 

Grind it in mixer nicely in batches if your making a larger quantity.

Sieve the flour and if there are small balls or lumps. Collect it and grind again. 

sieve the flour and put it in a wide vessel or newspaper and allow it to dry in open air.

Millet flour ready for making kozhukkattai dough!

Multimillet Adai / sirudhaniya adai

Adai is a delicious pancake or crepes made with dal and rice. Its more tastier when made with millets.
Its more crispy and tasty.I make adai every fornightly. There are a lot of variations in making adai.Many people use different ingredients for grinding the adai batter.I have used a simple recipe.





Ingredients:

• Gram Dal - 3/4 cup
• Toor dal - 1/4 cup
• Varagarisi / Kodo milelt - 1/2 cup
• Kuthiraivali - 1/2 cup
• Salt
• Red Chilly 3-4
• Coconut Oil
• Curry leaves
• Asafoedita

Method:

• Wash and soak gram dal, toor dal separately. 
• Wash and soak varagarisi and kuthiraivali separately.
• Grind all the ingredients in the mixer grinder separately and keep the batter outside to ferment. Grind it coarsely.
• Heat tava and Put Adai using Coconut oil.

• Flip the adais on both the sides and make it crispy.

Hot Crispy Adai ready.

Serve with Avial.

Kuthiraivali / Barnyard Millet Pongal

Pongal is a delicacy made for pongal festival or harvest festival. Pongal is a popular rice dish in Tamil Nadu, and the Tamil cuisine of Sri Lanka. In Tamil, the root pong or pongu means to " boil over" or "spill over".

There are two varieties of pongal, Sakarai Pongal which is a sweet, and Ven Pongal, made from clarified butter. The unqualified word pongal usually refers to spicy pongal in Tamil Nadu, and is a common breakfast food in Tamil Nadu. The rice boiled with milkand jaggery during the Pongal festival is also called pongal - this is sweet pongal made specially in earthenware pots with a wood fire.

Pongal is made in few varieties. My mom makes different recipe and my MIl recipe is different. This pongal is made out of millet variety . It is called barnyard millet or kuthiravali. I bet the pongal is really yummy when made with millets than our normal rice.

Ingredients:

• Kuthiraivali - 1 cup
• Moong dal - 1/2  cup
• Salt
• Water - 4 cups

To temper:

• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Peppercorns - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves
• Asafoedita - 1/4 tsp
• Ginger - 1" (finely chopped)
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Cashews
• turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker. Temper all the above ingredients.
• Wash and soak the kuthiravali for 30 mins. Soaking is optional. I generally dont soak.
• Add the washed millet and moong dal. 
• Add water and salt.Stir well.
• Cook for about 5-6 whistles.

Serve hot with ghee and Peanut/ Groundnut Chutney.

Varagarisi Chakkarapongal / Kodo Millet Sweet Pongal

Millet recipes are on for this week. Millet provides a host of nutrients, has a sweet nutty flavor, and is considered to be one of the most digestible and non-allergenic grains available. It is one of the few grains that is alkalizing to the body.

Millet has always been a favorite grain of mine since I discovered it in my hippy days in the 70’s!

Read about millet’s 12 health benefits, some interesting trivia and history, 10 tips how to use it, and 3 delicious millet recipes.

12 Health Benefits:

1. Millet is alkaline and it digests easily.

2. The Hunzas – who live in a remote area of the Himalayan foothills and are known for their excellent health and longevity – enjoy millet as a staple in their diet.

3. Millet will hydrate your colon to keep you from being constipated.

4. Millet acts as a prebiotic feeding microflora in your inner ecosystem.

5. The serotonin in millet is calming to your moods.

6. Millet is a smart carb with lots of fiber and low simple sugars. Because of this it has a relatively low glycemic index and has been shown to produce lower blood sugar levels than wheat or rice. (Kamari and Sumathi, 2002)

7. Magnesium in millet can help reduce the effects of migraines and heart attacks.

8. Niacin (vitamin B3) in millet can help lower cholesterol.

9. Millet consumption decreases triglycerides and C-reactive protein. Scientists in Seoul, South Korea concluded that millet may be useful in preventing cardiovascular disease. Nutrition Research. April 2010; 30(4):290-6.

10. All millet varieties show high antioxidant activity. A team of biochemists analyzed the antioxidant activity; all varieties showed high antioxidant activity. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 9 June 2010; 58(11):6706-14.

11. Millet is gluten-free and non-allergenic. A great grain for sensitive individuals.

12. Millet’s high protein content (15 percent) makes is a substantial addition to a vegetarian diet.

I have already posted few millet recipes. SNow, starting with a sweet recipe. It can be all time favorite for most of us. Its none other than Chakkapongal. Its most yummiest when done in millets. 

Ingredients:

• Varagarisi  - 1 cups
• Moong dal - 1/2 cup
• Jaggery- 11/2 cups
• Ghee
• Cashew
• Milk - half cup
• Cardamom powde
• Water

Method:

• Wash and soak millet and moong dal together for about 30 hr.
• Cook the soaked millet and moong dal for about 4-5 whistles in cooker.
• Dissolve the  Jaggery in water and Strain it.
• Allow it to boil.
• Add milk to the jaggery and allow it to boil.
• then add the cooked millet and dal. Stir it well.
• Add ghee,cardamom and cashew.
• Ready to serve. :D
• 
  
  

Ragi dosa / Kezhvaragu Dosai

Today I am writing on a healthy tiffin variety. It can be had for breakfast and dinner. Dosa is most of our favorite tiffin. Here is the ragi version of dosa, very tasty and lip smacking one. A very easy procedure, whenever you run out of odly dosa batter, this will be handy,



Ingredients:

• Ragi flour - 2 cups
• Urad dal - 1 cup soaked
• Salt
• Water
• Oil
• Onions and chillies optional. It gives a aromatic taste to this dosa when mixed with batter and made.

Method:

• Soak urad dal for 1 hour, like we soak for idly batter.
• Grind it in the same consistency ,we grind for idly batter.Transfer the ground urad flour to a vessel.
• Add the ragi flour, salt and mix well and keep it aside in the morning.
• It will be fermented before dinner time.( Add onions and chillies, if you are adding).
• Mix the batter a little thin for crispy and crunchy dosa.
• Heat the dosa tava, take the batter and put like regular dosas and add oil.
• Cook on both the sides.

Serve it with chutneys or thuvayals. I served it with coconut chutney and pudhina thuvayal.

Varagarisi upma kozhukkattai / Kodo millet upma kozhukkattai

Upma kozhukkattai is a tiffin item . Those days my paati used to make arisi upma, upma kozhukkattai.. Missing those days. But I was very happy to make it for the first time using kodo millet and it tasted awesome! It tasted the same way as my paatis.. It's very aromatic! 

I had this upma kozhukkattai and coriander chutney in my friend aunty' house and loved the combo... Do try it , I am sure you will love it! 



Ingredients:

• Varagarisi - 1 cup
• Coconut - 1/2 cup grated

For tempering:

• Coconut oil
• Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
• Channa dal / Bengal gram - 3 tsp
• Curry leaves
• Green chilly -1
• Red chilly -2
• Salt
• Hing -1/4 tsp
• Water -  2 cups

Method:

• Wash the millet with water and drain and keep it aside.
• Heat a pan, add coconut oil and temper mustard seeds, dal, curry leaves, chilly, hing,chillies.
• Add the two cups of water, add the grated coconut and salt.
• Bring it to a boil. As soon as the water is boiled , add the millets..
• Keep on stirring till the rice is cooked and absorbs the water. It will be half cooked.
• Keep stirring till it comes to the consistency to roll in hands as kozhukkattai..
• Switch off and allow it to cool.
• Heat a idly pan , and grease the idly plates.
• Take small small balls from the upma and roll it into kozhukkattai form and place it on the plate.

• Steam it for abt 7-8mins.

Wonderful tasty soft upma kozhukkattais ready!

Guest Post # 5 by Mrs.Mily Raghupathy - Quinoa Ragi Idly / Thinai kezhvaragu idly with peanut chutney

Good morning to all my friends.. Here is my 5th guest post by Mrs. Mily raghupathy. She has an innovative and healthy recipe.  This time its millet special here.. The dish sounds super simple and yummy.


About the guest:


Mrs. Mily is currently a homemaker. She was working earlier. She has 2 kids. She purued her education in andhra, tamil Nadu and Bihar. Now she is settled in Chennai.Her native is Kerala. her passion is Gardening.

Thanks mily akka for having accepting to write a guest post for me.. its indeed a wonderful recipe with side dish. Thanks for your efforts. She is a friend of mine from a foodie group from FB.

coming to the recipe:


Ingredients:

• Ragi - 1 cup 

• Thinai aka foxtail millet - 2 cups

• Idly rice - 1 cup

• Black Urad dal - 1 cup 

• Fenugreek seeds - 2 tsp
• Salt
• Water

Method:

• Soak millets and rice together for 2 to 3 hours and soak urad dal with fenugreek separately for the same time . ( I have used black urad dal, You can also substitute with normal urad dal without skin)
• Grind Dal and millets separately like we do for normal Idly batter , mix it together add salt and ferment it overnight or for 7 to 8 hours .
• Heat the idly cooker and grease the idly plates with oil and fill the idly plates with the batter. 
• Steam it like you keep it for regular idlies for 7-10 mins.
• You will get nice pluffy idlis 

Peanut Chuney :


Ingredients for peanut chutney :

• Raw peanuts [ 1 cup
• Desiccated coconut - 3/4 cup
• Red chillies - 3-4
• Green chilly -1
• Garlic ( optional) - 1 clove
• A small pc of tamarind ( optional)
• Salt as needed
• Mustard, urad dal and curry leaves for tempering - 1 tsp each
• Oil - 1 tsp

Method : 

• In a pan ,dry roast peanuts and remove the husk.

• In the same pan add a drop of oil and roast all the other ingredients.

• Mix together the peanuts and other roasted items and grind to a fine paste . 

• Temper it with mustard , curry leaves and urad dal .

Serve it with the yummy Idly!