Ragi Halwa Using Jaggery in 15 minutes - One Pot One Shot (OPOS) Recipe

Ragi is a super wonder grain which is perfectly suitable for Indian climatic conditions. It is rich in fiber, calcium, good carbohydrates, amino acids, Vitamin D and also an excellent source of iron. I learnt this recipe from one of the OPOS facebook groups. It was super easy and my son loved it the most.  I have not added any nuts or dry fruits in this, you can add them if you wish. 

Ingredients

Ragi Flour - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp + 1 tsp
Water - 1 cup
Powdered Jaggery - 1/3 cup, heaped
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Cashew nut - 1

Method

1. Heat a pan, add 2 tbsp of ghee, ragi flour and the cashew. Roast the flour in low flame until a nice  
    aroma rises. The cashew will turn golden brown when the flour gets roasted. It takes approximately    10 minutes for this.
2. Once the flour gets roasted set aside. Take a 2 or 3 liter pressure cooker, add 1 cup of water,   Jaggery powder, cardamom powder, 1 tsp of ghee and cook for 1 whistle.
3. Turn off the pressure cooker. Remove the pressure manually, do this very carefully using a spoon.
4. Add the roasted ragi flour immediately to the boiling water and mix well quickly.
5. Close the lid with the weight on and leave it for 15 minutes. (Do not have to turn on the stove, it         will get set in the retained heat).
6. After 15 minutes, you can transfer it to a mould and slice them to pieces or can just serve them in       a bowl with spoon.

Note :

While roasting the ragi flour, if you over roast the flour halwa might have a bitter taste in it. In case, if your cashew doesn't turn golden brown for some reason and meanwhile you get the nice aroma, just go with your instincts. 

Sweet Ragi Kali - Kezhvaragu Kali - Keppai Kali - Ragi Urundai - Ragi Mudde - Ragi Sankati Using a Pressure Cooker

I always prefer including millets in my routine. Generally, Ragi Kali is consumed for breakfast as it highly nutritious. Learnt this sweet version of Ragi Kali from the OPOS group. As it is a sweet version I made it as an evening snack for my family. It doesn't take much of your effort as you mix in the flour with hot jaggery syrup and allow to sit for a while and then make the balls; no vigorous mixing as we do in the traditional way. They turned out super soft and so delicious.  If you have a picky eater, you can name it a chocolate ball or jamuns. Even you can just flatten it a bit, place a layer of cheese or peanut butter and give it as a cheese or cream biscuit; kids will never say a no to it. So, here is the recipe I followed. Below mentioned quantity yields 20 balls.

Ingredients

Ragi Flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Powdered Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - for greasing your palms while making balls

Method:

1. Heat a pan and dry roast the ragi flour until the raw smell goes. May take 3-5 mins. Once roasted set aside.
2. In a pressure cooker, add water, jaggery and coconut oil. Cook in high for 1 whistle. Manually release pressure immediately.
3. Add the dry roasted ragi flour and mix well until no dry flour is seen.
4. Close the cooker lid with the whistle. Let it sit for 20-30 mins. By this time the ragi would have been fully cooked
5. Now make them into gooseberry sized balls, use ghee for a smooth and shiny texture. Place them in an idly tray and steam for 3-5 mins as we do for kozhukattai. Alternately, you can also keep them in a vessel and put the vessel in the pressure cooker and pressure cook for 5 mins. Sweet Ragi Kali is all ready to be gobbled. 

Before Steaming

After Steaming

Note

• For roasting the flour, don't go by time. Believe in your nose. 
• After you steam or pressure cook the balls, when you touch them it should not be sticky, but soft and spongy. That's how you know your balls are perfectly cooked.
• If yours turn out to be chewy or hard, it means you had overcooked them.

Thinai Adai - Thinai Arisi Adai - Foxtail Millet Adai - Millet Recipes - Healthy Dinner Recipes

Its been a long time since I posted any recipe.  Hardly I could manage to find any time these days. Evenings are totally busy with my lil one and his homeworks, whereas daytime and late nights are totally dedicated for my Jewelleries. Thats my new venture for the past two years, ViJosDesignerBangles . Check out the collections if interested! And, very Happy to come back again :-). Nowadays, millets play an equal role in my kitchen. The best part is, millets can be substituted for rice and wheat in most recipes. Millets are highly nutritious and gluten free, they are easily digestible. Hence can be had for both breakfast and dinner. Today's recipe is going to be Thinai Adai. Thinai is known as Foxtail Millet in English, Kangni in Hindi, Korra in Telugu, Navane in Kannada and Thina in Malayalam. This adai is made using millets and lentils, so it is rich in protein, full of fiber and highly nutritious. Try making this and I am sure it will become one of the regular preparations in your house too. Now, to the recipe!
 

 
Ingredients

Thinai arisi/foxtail millet - 1 cup
Channa dal/kadalai paruppu - 1/2 cup
Tur dal/thuvaram paruppu - 1/2 cup
Whole Urad dal - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 3-4
Hing and salt as per taste
Oil for making adai

Method

Wash and soak the dals together for 3-4 hours. Grind it along with hing, red chillies and salt as we grind for regular Adai dosa. The consistency of the batter should not be too thick or too thin.

Preparing the adai dosa

Heat a tawa, (check by sprinkling water to see if the tawa is hot enough to pour the batter) pour a ladle full of adai batter and spread it in a circular motion just as you do for regular dosas.

Drizzle a tsp of oil around the adai. Once it is cooked, the corners will start lifting up. Flip it over to the other side. Drizzle another 1/2 tsp of oil and cook well.

Remove from tawa and serve hot with any chutney of your choice or with Avial.

Note

You can also add finely chopped onions, green chillies, 1-2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves to the Thinai Adai batter to make it more delicious.