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, Ragi Huri Hittu as it is called in Kannada.

Mixed Grain Khichdi

You can prepare this mixture and keep it ready to make khichdi.
Sama – 1 cup
Thinai – 1 cup
Broken Ragi / Ragi Rava – 1 cup
Broken Jowar / Jowar Rava- 1 cup
Broken Bajra / Pearl Millet Rava – 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.

 

Ragi Dosa (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 Whole Wheat

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.

 

Ragi Aloo 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

Ragi flour 3 cups
Water  1.5 cups
This is a recipe from Northern Karnataka. Water is used while making the rotis. The rotis puff up and the end product is soft rotis.
Bring 1 cup of water to boil. In parallel, mix 1 cup of ragi flour in about 1/2 cup or less water till it blends in and looks like a slightly flowing mix.

Pour the mix into the boiling water, stirring continuously. Allow the ragi to cook.

Then pour about a cup of ragi flour on top of the cooked mix and allow it to steam up till the entire mix cools down.

When the cooked ragi has cooled down completely, proceed to knead the dough. You are looking to make a dough of a consistency like whole wheat dough. Use ragi flour as needed to get the right consistency. You will be rolling out this dough with a rolling pin.


Next make balls of dough and roll out the rotis. The flour will be easier to roll out since a part of it has been cooked and it has a rollable texture. However, you will need to use dry ragi flour liberally to ensure the rotis don’t break while you roll them.


Place the roti on the pan and as you sense that the side on the pan is slightly cooked, apply water on the other side using a piece of cloth. This helps in not allowing the roti to dry up. It also helps assimilate all the extra flour used while rolling out the roti.

Then flip the roti and water the other side as well. Cook on both sides till the water is gone. Then start pressing gently with a spatula and your roti will start to puff up.


The roti is ready. And it is soft. Serve with a vegetable in gravy or a dal.

Ragi Puttu

Ragi flour, sprouted and roasted flour tastes even better – 1 cup
Jaggery – 0.5-1 cup, depending on your taste
Grated Coconut – 1 cup or according to taste
Cardamom, camphor, clove, saffron powder – 1 pinch (optional)
Water – 1/2 cup
Steamer or Puttu maker.
Add small amounts of water to the ragi flour to make the flour slightly moist. Do not make it too wet. You should be able to run your fingers through the mixture comfortably. Then place the ragi mixture, grated coconut and add the cardamom spice mix in a cheese/khadi cloth. Put the cloth in a steamer and allow the mixture to steam for 5-10 minutes. Check to see if the mixture looks wet and done. Remove from the flame, add jaggery and enjoy!

Ragi dosa – Instant

Ragi flour – 2 cups
Buttermilk – 1/2 – 1 cup
Jeera – 1 tb sp
Chopped green chillies
Water
Salt to taste
Mix the above ingredients till you have a rava dosa 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.

Ragi dosa 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 Mudde / 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 ragi flour 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, ragi mudde / ragi kali is served with a sambar made with different greens. 

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.
Rotis made using proportions of 1/2 ragi, 1/2 whole wheat or 1/3 ragi, 2/3 whole wheat come out quite well.
Mix the flours with warm water and leave aside for 1/2 hour or so. Roll out rotis. Done.

Ragi Laddu

Ragi flour, sprouted and roasted (Ragi Huri Hittu)- 1/2 kg
Jaggery powder – 1/2 kg
Water to make thick jaggery syrup
Cashews (optional)
Cardamon seasoning (optional)
Ghee – 1 tsp (optional)
Grated coconut (optional)
Take 1/2 cup water and dissolve the jaggery powder in it. Make sure you use less water else the syrup will be too runny and it will be hard to make laddus. Boil the water-jaggery mixture till you get a thick syrup. Let it cool and add the ragi flour 1/2 cup at a time incorporating it into the syrup. Add more flour if required to get the right consistency. You can at this time also add cashews, ghee, coconut and cardamom seasoning per your taste. Shape into laddu balls.
These will keep for at least a week if you do not add fresh grated coconut.
Th reason for using Sprouted and roasted ragi is that it is ready to eat and does not have to be sauted again. If using ragi flour, try dry roasting the flour till you get a nice aroma.

Ragi Chocolate Brownies (Gluten-free, Vegan, Oil-free)

Ragi Huri Hittu flour (sprouted and roasted ragi flour) – 3/4 cup
Almond meal / pulp left over from extracting almond milk – 2 tablespoons (optional)
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – 1/3 cup
Baking Soda – 1 teaspoon
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Jaggery Powder – 1/2 to 3/4 cup according to  your taste
Applesauce – from 1 apple (optional)
Vanilla – 1 teaspoon
Cashew butter made from 20-25 cashews (pulse cashews in mixie till you get a thick paste)
Coconut milk to mix the dough – extracted using 1/4 coconut
Flaxseed egg – use 2 teaspoons of flax seeds. Powder it in a mixie and then pulse with 2-3 spoons of water. Set aside for 5 minutes
Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly. Add the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Pour into a baking tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 150 – 175 C.

Millet Recipes for Babies

Millet preparations certainly won’t make you wince! Millets can easily replace rice and wheat in many of the food items we eat and they make for a tasty, wholesome meal. Enjoy the recipes here!

Millet Recipes for Babies

Millets can be given to babies in different forms. They are easy to digest, non-glutinous and very nourishing – an excellent meal for your baby. You can start getting your infant on these foods from when they are 4 months old. Of course, you would follow the regular procedure of giving just a spoonful on the first day and incrementally increasing the quantity over a week’s time.

Mixed Millet food

Sama (Little Millet) rice  – 2 tbsp
Varagu (Kodo Millet) rice – 2 tbsp
Thenai(Foxtail Millet) rice – 2 tbsp
Whole Wheat Dalia (Broken Wheat) – 2 tbsp
Paddy rice (red, white, brown) – 2 tbsp
Whole Mung (Green Gram) – 2 tbsp
Roast each grain separately till you can smell a fragrant aroma of roasted grain. Each grain needs a different amount of time, so don;t mix them up lest you end up with some under-roasted and some over-roasted and hence bitter grains. Let them cool down and then powder them in a mixie till you get a rava consistency. Grind the grains in batches based on grain size – sama, varagu and korra can go in one batch. Mung and rice in another.
Cook the mixture in a pressure cooker with sufficient water. You will need to check if the cooked mixture has a soft, mashed-up texture. Puree if required.
Suggestions for serving:
1. With milk
2. with buttermilk, if your baby is old enough for it/used to it
3. boiled and pureed vegetables
4. pureed fruits
You can eat it or drink it based on the consistency you like. It has a delicious flavor and is nutritious.

Ragi Extract

Ragi grain – 1 cup
Water – as required
Soak 1 cup of ragi overnight. Puree the soaked grain with less water till you can see that the grains are getting pulped. Do not pour too much water at the beginning, the grains will not get crushed. Once your have a paste, add water and puree some more. Now pass the mixture through a muslin cloth to extract the ragi milk. You can extract milk a couple of times. Now bring the extract to boil on a slow flame, stirring occasionally to make sure that no lumps are formed. Allow it to cook for about 10 minutes and till it starts to thicken.
If you add too little water, the mixture will thicken too soon, before the ragi extract has cooked. If you add too much water, you will need to cook it for longer till you get the desired consistency.
Some suggestions on what to add to this extract:
1. boiled and pureed apple
2. boiled and pureed carrots or other vegetables your baby likes
3. jaggery if your baby is used to the taste
4. just like that, your baby might lap it up!
A traditional recipe and thanks to Anjali Purohit for making it sound delicious in the ragini custard recipe she provides in her book, Ragi-Ragini.

Ragi – Ragini: Chronicles from Aji’s Kitchen by Anjali Purohit

Ragi, which is known by many names – Nachani, Nagli, Kelvaragu, Mutthari, Coracano, or finger millet – is a much neglected wonder food and an indigenous grain that has been grown and consumed in India’s rural areas for centuries. Ragi-Ragini is a collection of ragi recipes-traditional ones, variations of the traditional as well as entirely new innovations. The author believes thatRagi has the potential to take a weak and ailing body and lead it towards health, wisdom and self-realisation, and she infuses her recipes with this faith. The recipes are accompanied by a sparkling little tale about a little girl called Ragini, her life with her genius grandmother Aji and fiesty Masi in a small, coastal Konkan village, and the transcendental ragi grain. Adorning the narrative and recipes are ‘ovis’ or verses composed by the renowned Maharashtrian poet Bahinabai which have been sung by generations of women while going about their daily chores, and which talk about the life, work and concerns of women in the region. This unusual little book by Anjali Purohit not only offers simple tips to include ragi in your daily diet, but is also a delight to read!

Ragi Porridge with Almond Milk

Ragi Huri Hittu (Sprouted and Roasted Ragi) – 3 spoons
Jaggery – 3 spoons
Water – 1.5 glasses (adjust according to the thickness of the porridge you like)
Salt – pinch
Almonds – 8-10 soaked overnight
Boil to melt the jaggery in 1 cup of water and strain to remove impurities. Add salt. Mix the ragi huri hittu in about 1/4 glass of water. Peel the soaked almonds. Place the almonds and 1/4 cup of water in a blender and blend till you get a smooth mixture. Strain the mixture through a cheese/khadi cloth  to separate the pulp from the milk. (Note: If you add the pulp to the porridge, it will not come together and become thick)
Bring the strained water to a boil. Add the water with the ragi powder. Allow the mixture to cook for half a minute and add the almond milk. Cook till the mixture thickens. Add water if the porridge is too thick for you.
Ragi is an excellent source of calcium, among other nutrients, for kids. Adding almonds adds a good source of fat, Vitamin E and many more nutrients for your child.

Millets

History

Millets are some of the oldest of cultivated crops. The term millet is applied to various grass crops whose seeds are harvested for food or feed. Millets are the alternative feed crops which were grown after Rice/Wheat were harvested. In order to cultivate Rice/Wheat again, We have to feed the farm land to gain enough amount of nutrients. Instead of feeding the farm lands without cultivating anything, Farmers seed and cultivate millets which will be used for them as an alternative food as well as gives the soil enough strength to grow Paddy crops.

What are millets?
Millets are small-seeded grasses that are hardy and grow well in dry zones as rain-fed crops, under marginal conditions of soil fertility and moisture. Millets are one of the oldest foods known to humans and possibly the first cereal grain to be used for domestic purposes.
Millets are also unique due to their short growing season. They can develop from planted seeds to mature, ready to harvest plants in as little as 65 days. This is important in heavily populated areas. When properly stored, whole millets will keep for two or more years.

Why eat millets?
Nutrition:
They are highly nutritious, non-glutinous and not acid forming foods. Hence they are soothing and easy to digest. They are considered to be the least allergenic and most digestible grains available. Compared to rice, especially polished rice, millets release lesser percentage of glucose and over a longer period of time. This lowers the risk of diabetes.

Refined grains / flours have no bran in them. In the case of wheat flour, even the germ is missing. When these foods are consumed, glucose / blood sugar levels immediately shoot up. The body produces excess insulin to lower the blood sugar levels.If this goes on for a long time, the body keeps pumping out large quantities of insulin and usually develops insulin resistance. The pancreas might also stop producing insulin. Either way, the glucose levels start to shoot up, resulting in diabetes.

Millets, being whole grains (try polishing a grain of ragi!) release lesser percentage of glucose and over a longer period of time, thus lowering the risk of diabetes.

Millets are particularly high in minerals like iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium. Finger millet (Ragi) is the richest in calcium content, about 10 times that of rice or wheat. Below is the nutrient composition of millets as compared to wheat and rice.

Nutrients in small millets, wheat and rice

Environmental:
Unlike rice and wheat that require many inputs in terms of soil fertility and water, millets grow well in dry regions as rainfed crops. By eating millets, we will be encouraging farmers in dryland areas to grow crops that are best suited for those regions. This is a step towards sustainable cropping practices where by introducing diversity in our diets, we respect the biodiversity in nature rather than forcefully changing cropping patterns to grow wheat and rice everywhere.
Small farmers:
  
There are many co-operatives of small farmers that are working on providing livelihoods to farmers while at the same time focusing on ecological preservation. In dryland regions, these groups encourage the farmers to produce crops that are local to those regions, that thrive best there – millets. By incorporating millets into our diets, we will be supporting these groups.Learn more about these groups here.

What kinds of millets are available?

• Barnyard Millet (Hindi: Jhangora; Tamil: Kuthiravaali; Telugu: Odalu)
  

• Finger Millet (Hindi: Mandua; Tamil: Kelvargu; Telugu: Ragulu; Kannada: Ragi; Malayalam: Koovarugu) 
  
  Roti, porridge, dosa, mudde, payasam – ragi flour can be used in many different ways. The grain is so tiny, it really cannot be polished all that much! Consequently, all the good stuff is retained. Consider this: It has thirty times as much calcium as rice, more then ten times as much fiber and so on.
  

• Foxtail Millet (Hindi: Kangni; Tamil: Tenai; Telugu: Korra; Kannada: Navane; Malayalam: Thina)
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Kodo Millet (Hindi: Kodra; Tamil: Varagu; Telugu: Arikelu; Kannada: Harka)
  
  
  
  
  

• Little Millet (Hindi: Kutki; Tamil: Samai; Telugu: Sama; Kannada: Same; Malayalam: Chama)
  
  Little Millet Grain
  
  Little Millet Rice
  
  

• Pearl Millet (Hindi: Bajra, Tamil: Kambu, Telugu: Gantilu, Kannada: Sajje) 
  
  
  
  

• Proso Millet (Hindi: Barri; Tamil: Panivaragu; Telugu: Varigulu; Kannada: Baragu)
  

•  Sorghum (Hindi: Jowar; Tamil: Cholam; Telugu: Jonna; Kannada: Jola; Malayalam: Cholum)
  
  
  
  

How do I cook them?
Most millets can be cooked like rice. Millets can replace rice in various dishes such as idli, dosa, payasam/kheer. Millet flour can be used to make rotis. Click here for some recipes.

Health benefits
Gluten:
Gluten is the protein found in wheat. It gives wheat the elastic quality that helps it rise and keep its shape while making bread. It does so by creating a gluten network in the dough to trap carbon dioxide during fermentation. This causes the dough to rise and results in a chewy texture.
Over time, wheat varieties that have more gluten have been selected for cultivation. Foods rich in gluten are fairly acid-forming since it is not easy for our bodies to digest gluten. An acidic environment is created in the body which leads to a host of problems – fatigue, acidity, obesity, cancer, diarrhea to name a few.
Today, we eat a diet in which gluten forms a major component whereas our ancestors who ate wheat did so along with many other grains that did not contain gluten. Our bodies can process a little bit of gluten (not in the case of people with celiac disease who cannot eat any gluten) but not if wheat and wheat products become the staple in our diet. Most, if not all, processed food contain gluten – biscuits, noodles, pizza, bread, pasta, breakfast cereals. These foods are the mainstay of our diet today.
Millets are grains that do not have any gluten. Those who have experimented with rolling out ragi, jowar or bajra rotis will vouch for how much easier it is to roll out wheat rotis. However, this makes millets easy to digest and mildly acidic, if not alkaline. If your diet is rich in gluten, consider adding millets to your diet to help create a more alkaline medium in your body. This will go a long way towards improving your health.


Grains and Diabetes:

Refined grains / flours have no bran in them. In the case of wheat flour, even the germ is missing. When these foods are consumed, glucose / blood sugar levels immediately shoot up. The body produces excess insulin to lower the blood sugar levels.If this goes on for a long time, the body keeps pumping out large quantities of insulin and usually develops insulin resistance. The pancreas might also stop producing insulin. Either way, the glucose levels start to shoot up, resulting in diabetes.

Millets, being whole grains (try polishing a grain of ragi!) release lesser percentage of glucose and over a longer period of time, thus lowering the risk of diabetes.

Millets are particularly high in minerals like iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium. Finger millet (Ragi) is the richest in calcium content, about 10 times that of rice or wheat. Below is the nutrient composition of millets as compared to wheat and rice.

Calcium:
We need calcium for our bones. This statement is oftentimes interpreted as consuming sufficient quantities of dietary calcium, mostly in the form of milk. However that is just one aspect. It is also important that the calcium we eat is being absorbed by our bodies. Further, our lifestyle and diet should not deplete the calcium in our bones.
A diet that consists of mostly acid-forming foods such as refined foods, processed foods, sugary foods, glutinous foods leads to insufficient calcium, poor bone health and osteoporosis. In order for us to survive, the blood always has neutral pH. If the body has to process acid-forming foods continuously, in order to maintain the neutral pH of the blood, it draws calcium from the bones, the mineral in our body that is most alkaline. Over time, our bones weaken as our body keeps working to maintain the neutral pH.
Many doctors who work with their patients for regaining their health through dietary change are turning towards plant-based sources for calcium. They provide an easily absorbable source of calcium. Currently, most urban societies believe that milk is the main source of calcium. Consider the calcium content in the following food products per 100 gram portion:

Cow’s Milk	120 mg
Almonds	234 mg
Sesame Seeds Unhulled	1160 mg
Ragi	344 mg
Chickpeas	150 mg

Our body can only absorb 30% of the calcium in cow’s milk. Further, it is not easy for us to digest the protein found in cow’s milk. This leads to an acidic environment in the body which results in further depletion of calcium from our bones. From the above table, we can see that there are healthier alternatives to milk which have a much higher calcium content. Ragi, for instance, has a very high calcium content. Further, being a millet, it is also non-glutinous and non acid-forming. Adding ragi to your diet is a good way to get dietary calcium that your body can absorb.

Resources

Brazier, Brendan. Thrive – The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life. Da Capo Press, 2007.
Fuhrman, Joel, M.D. Disease-Proof Your Child – Feeding Kids Right. St. Martin’s Press, 2005.

Nutrients in small millets, wheat and rice:

Where can I buy millets?
Earth 360 Ventures, Kadiri, Andhra Pradesh. Email Dinesh at “millets  dot dinesh at gmail dot com”.
Jaivik Mall, near Lalbagh Double Road gate. 080 65624197
Navadarshanam products: These can be purchased at any Namdhari Fresh outlet.
Timbaktu Organic products: To order, call 08559 202149 / 202335 / 202339
Svad Products: To order, send an email to “svad dot organic at gmail dot com”

References 

“Bhoole Bisre Anaj – The Forgotten Foods”, Navdanya
 

Sources:
http://millets.wordpress.com/

Angaya Podi

Angaya Podi ­ Great Grandma's Ancient Tamil Recipe.

A Short Description About Tamil Recipe Angaya Podi

Ancient Tamil Recipe Angaya Podi is popular among Brahmin Community in South
India especially in TamilNadu. It's my Great Grandma's Recipe and we have this Tamil
Recipe Angaya Podi at our home's all time.Even though it is used as a part of normal
diet, it has it's own medicinal value. It relieves stomach upset, cures indigestion and
vomiting, loss of appetite and so on. This Tamil Recipe Angaya Podi is prepared and
given especially to delivered women who gave birth to new borns. It is the main course
of food included in 'Pathiya Samayal'.

Medicinal Value of Tamil Recipe Angaya Podi:

 

The ingredients included in the Tamil Recipe Angaya Podi, has its own medicinal value
for example Arisithippili, Kandathippili (Long pepper) cures cold and infection, Dry
Ginger(Chukku), Pepper and Cummin(Milagu Jeeragam) improves digestion, Dry
Manathakkali cures soar throat and ulcer. Dry Neem flower(Vempampoo) and
Sathakuppai removes all impurities from our stomach, cleanses and refreshes our
digestive system. All the ingredients are availabe at all Sidha Medicine (Naatu
Marunthu Kadai)
shops.
 
Let's see what are all the ingredients required and preparation method of Tamil Recipe
Angaya Podi.

 

Ingredients Required for Tamil Recipe Angaya Podi:

 
Ingredients No.1: (Dry Fry)

Toor dal (Thuvaram Paruppu) ­ 200gms
Bengal gram dal (Kadalai Paruppu) ­ 200gms
Urad dal (Ulutham Paruppu) ­ 50gms
Crystal salt (Kal Uppu) ­ 2 tablespoonful
 
Ingredients No.2: (Oil Fry)

Asafoetida (Perungayam) ­ 1 piece
Dry Ginger (Chukku) ­ 20gms
Arisithippili ­ 20gms
Kandathippili ­ 20gms
Sathakuppai ­ 5gms
Dry Neem flower (Vepam poo) ­ 10gms
Coriander seeds (Dhaniya) ­ 50gms
Dry Manathakkali Vathal ­ 50gms
Black Pepper (Milagu) ­ 25gms
Red chillies ­ 50 gms

Ingredients No.3:
 
Cummin (Jeeragam) ­ 25 gms.
 
Method of How To Make Tamil Recipe Angaya Podi:

1. Heat the fry pan and dry fry toor dal, bengal gram dal and urad dal one by one,
separately till they becomes light brown in colour and keep it aside.
 
2. Dry fry crystal salt, just one fry is enough and keep it aside.
 
3. Fry each items separately listed in the Ingredients No.2, by adding two to three drops
of oil in a fry pan and set aside.
 
4. Now mix all the above oil fried and dry fried items along with jeeragam mentioned in
Ingredient No.3.
 
5. Put all the ingredients in a dry blender and make a very fine powder. But it would be
extra fine and even more smooth powder when ground in a flour mill.
 
6. Angaya Podi Tamil Recipe is ready now.
 
7. It lasts for 3 to 4 years when refrigerated.
 
How to make Angaya Podi Rice (Angaya Podi Sadham):
 
Just add 2 to 3 teaspoons (according to your taste) of Tamil Recipe Angaya Podi to
Steamed Rice added with ghee and mix well. It goes well with Illai vadam, Sambar
Onion and Onion Pachadi (Raitha).

Recipie - Mooligai Rasam

Mooligai Rasam

Mooligai Rasam - A mooligai samayal reciepe

Need of Mooligai Samayal Recipes Tamil Nadu

From ancient days Tamil people give more importance to food and health. A Tamil

quote says that Unave marunthu. The meaning for this quote is Food is Medicine.  In

ancient days there was no enough growth in medicine field so people practiced to cure

diseased by using some medicinal plants and they are called herbal medicines.

 

 
 
Sanjeevi mooligai was used more to cure many diseases. Instead of taking directly they

started to use them with their food and they are called Mooligai Samayal Recipes Tamil

Nadu in maruthuvam . By using these herbal plants they prepare delicious food recipes,

which not only give stamina but also prevent from serious health hazards.  Kids are

continuously affected by cold, cough and congestion, the allopathic medicines won’t

work with this problems so Mooligai Samayal Recipes Tamil Nadu Mooligai Rasam is

the best medicine to cure this problem.

 

 
The herbal medicinal plants Kandan Thippili , Arisi Thippili and Tulsi leaves are the

main ingredients of Mooligai Samayal.

 

Tamil Mooligai Samayal Recipes Rasam Ingredients

Mooligai samayal Rasam Powder

First you have to prepare Rasam power or rasam paste by using some powerful

medicinal plants.

 

Tulsi leaves ­ 15
Kandan Thippili –3
Arisi Thippli – 4
Neem flower ­ 5
Ulundu – 1 tsp
Dried chilli ­ 2
Cumin seeds – 2tsp
Pepper seeds ­ 2 tsp
Fry the above Mooligai Samayal Recipes ingredients and prepare a powder by grinding

them.

 

Mooligai samayal Rasam Ingredients

Toor dal water extraction_ 2 cups
Tamarind paste – 1tsp
Tomato – 1
Mustard seeds– 1 tsp
Curry leaves – as required
Turmeric powder– ½ tsp
Garlic past – 1tsp
Asafoetida – ¼ tsp
Salt ­ for taste
Oil ­ - 1tsp
Coriander leaves –for garnishing

Mooligai Samayal Recipes Tamil Nadu Style Preparation

1. Mix Toor dal juice and tamarind paste by adding salt.
2. Mix well and adjust the salt and sour taste accounting to your taste.
3. Then mix the ground mooligai samayal Rasam Powder with the liquid.
4. Then add the turmeric powder, asafetida and garlic paste. Crush tomato and add with the mixture.
5. Keep the vessel on fire and let it to boil( remove in the foam stage like usual tomato rasam )
6. Give a sauté by adding mustard and curry leaves. Add with the mooligai rasam.
7. One of the best Mooligai Samayal Recipes Mooligai Rasam is ready to taste.
8. You can have directly like soup or add with rice to get rid of cold, cough and congestion.

BACK TO ANCIENT TAMIL CUISINE

BACK TO ANCIENT TAMIL CUISINE

Our Tamilnadu is a homeland of natural resources, heritages, besides the fragrant traditional cooking too. Every part of Tamilnadu is following the different cooking practices, here the cuisine and cooking is completely changing in every 100kms. Tamil cooking is well dignified by the use of secret and traditional masalas and abundant use of homegrown spices in cooking. In Tamilnadu, people give more attentions to their food what they are preparing at the time of festivals. The prepared food replicated the mood of festivals as well as the culture of people. Our cooking is praised around the globe due to the authenticity what we keeps in our cooking so far.

We are assumed that South Indian foods are not only Idli and Sambhar. South Indian cuisine catches the prime attraction among foreigners those who are visiting to South India. Dosa and Idli boarded their flight to USA, UK and many more other countries. Normally the foreigners are not fond of rice based fermented food, but today they enjoy to eat Idli, dosa, appam and many of our South Indian food items.

Ancient Tamil cuisine is the cooking between 3BC – 15BC, the Tamil sangam works like Perupanachupadai, Chirupanachupadai, Purananuru, Tholkapiyam, Kurunthogai, Pathichupathu etc., widely described the food and food habits of the ancient people. Sangam literatures clearly described the food that had been served in the laymen house and also the Kings palace in those days. Ancient times the South India was divided by chera, chola and pandya kingdoms. The ingredients what we are using now for our cooking was not available on those days cooking practice. The food culture had been transformed as per the land where they were dwelled. According to the Chirupanachupadai, a Tamil work, Raja Annam is the higher quality rice, this rice is used to bartering the products.

Sangam literature stated the course wise serving of food. The practice of eating food in course wise passed to European countries through our practices (Phrases on Kurunthogai). In sangam days, meat and alcoholic drinks like “Somabhanam” served to the courtyard poets. Those days, there were no restrictions to taste the meat and alcoholic drinks. Kuzhambu / Kalavai, Salna / Stew, Sambhar, Medu Vada, Dosa etc., were present in olden days in different shape and taste which were cooked with available items.

In king’s house there had been 160 varieties of dishes served for a single meal, 82 cooks worked in the king’s kitchen. In Maharaja’s kitchen, the series of secret recipes were so dear to the official kitchen. The recipes drafted on kings head cooks secret code. Histories noticed that the kitchen of Maharaja’s was famous for its exquisite and elaborate recipes.

Onion, Tomatoes, green chilly, garlic, cloves, refined oil, sugar etc., were not available in sangam age. Today we can’t imagine the cooking without the above said ingredients and sweets without sugar. Peppercorns, coriander seeds, Black Jaggery, Tender coconut, Honey, ginger, Turmeric, Tamarind, Mustard seeds, ghee are the ingredients used on early days. In 15 & 16^th century, many ingredients were introduced for the cooking through trade. After the introduction of groundnut oil in Vijayanagara dynasty that produced more deep fried foods. Temples play the active role for the evolution of food. Through the wake up of Bhakthi movements there had been the tremendous changes in the Tamilian food customs.

India has many cuisines to offer but our Tamil food is the premiere cuisine. Even the famous biriyani had its origin in South India, not from anywhere. According to Tamil works Pathichupathu and Purananuru which vastly describes the food and fermentation method done in ancient days. This Tamil works says that the warriors / soldiers were feeded with “Oonthuvaiadishil” or “Oonsoru” (Oon means meat) by the King before they were going to warfront and also the biriyani were served to soldiers whenever there were victories at war.

After we know our ancient Tamil cuisine through this script, we shall persuade our ancestors are great in cooking and their masterpiece in cooking should not be forgotten at any time.

Hope you are happily read… Thanks to Chef Rajmohan for sharing this article.