Ragi Koolz | Ragi Porridge | Finger Millet Porridge

Hello Lovely Readers!!!

Today we are starting the first week of Blogging Marathon #19. The past 19 months [or a year and a half] has gotten me close to so many friends and has widened my knowledge on food and cooking. I am now anticipating each and every blogging marathon announcement with so much eagerness! Each month we are given challenging themes and I love to explore the possibilities of cooking something new each month.

This time too we had a whole bunch of interesting themes to choose from and for week #1, I have chosen Calcium rich dishes.

Calcium,as we all know is the most abundant mineral found in the body.This mineral is essential for maintaining healthy , strong bones, helps in blood clotting and also supports the proper functioning of nerves and muscles.

Some of the important sources of Calcium in the diet are...

• Ragi / Finger millet
• Milk
• Cheese
• Yogurt
• Kale
• Arugula
• Sardines
• Oats
• Soya beans
• Almonds
• Sesame seeds
• Dried figs
• Tofu
• Sunflower seeds, etc...

For the first recipe, I am posting a health drink prepared from Ragi / Finger millet. Ragi porridge is one of the most important and preferred weaning food in my part of the world.Ragi is a very nutritious cereal and if given in the right method, it is suitable for the little tummy.

A little info on Ragi...

• It is also called finger millet ,African millet.
• It has a valuable amino acid -Methionine .
• 100g of ragi gives 328kcal energy , 7.3 g protein ,1.3 g fat,72 g carbohydrate ,3.44g calcium and 3.6g fibre.
• The nutritive value increases when it is malted.

Today I am sharing with you the type of porridge that adults love to drink.In summer , we can see many small carts selling finger millet porridge and pearl millet porridge in almost all the streets. They are served with an interesting array of side dishes ranging from fried stuffs to pickles and raw onion and green chillies.

These type of porridge that are sold on the streets invites a lot of people. I have always seen a bunch of people around these carts savoring the porridge with the side dishes. Not only the rural people, even the urban folks love this.

Updated:

Many of my friends wanted to know 'how' they sold this porridge on the streets. Here are some clicks..

The vendor ready with the porridge in his push-cart....

A closer look...

The pot that holds the porridge is a clay one covered with a wet cloth . 

It is placed on a tyre that is filled with sand and sprinkled with water.

This is done to keep the porridge cool.

You can also see the huge packet of color crisps and 

the closed containers have the pickles ,etc.

The stainless steel vessels are used to serve the porridge.

There is also a [pink] pot of drinking water...

The vendor is now busy...

I wanted to try this at home and here it is for the blogging marathon. Ragi and buttermilk used in this recipe are good sources of Calcium and of course it is a very filling meal too...

I used:

Ragi flour - 2 tablespoons
Yogurt - 1 cup
Salt to taste

1. Beat yogurt with a cup of water and keep aside.[Or you can use buttermilk]
2. Dissolve the ragi flour in less than 1/4 cup of water.
3. Heat 1 cup of water and when it comes to a rolling boil,slowly add the ragi paste and stir so that there are no lumps.
4. Add salt and simmer.Keep stirring till it thickens a little.It may take around 8-10 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and cool.
6. Add the buttermilk and mix well.
7. Serve as such or along with side dishes like pickles, chips, crisps, sun dried chillies ,etc.

A sweet version of this porridge is also prepared using palm candy. I will post that recipe in a few days.

Here are some more recipes with Ragi....

Ragi Semiya Kheer
Ragi sevai
Ragi porridge - Weaning food
Ragi Adai with herbs
Instant Ragi Dosai
Stuffed Vegetable Ragi Dosa


Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#19



Bon Appetit...