Cooking with Shail

Hey guys! Ragi or Nachni as we call it is a part of finger millet family and we Indians have yet to explore it completely. Ragi is rich in calcium and also helps in controlling blood sugar levels. It also battles anaemia, reduces the risk of stroke, increases bone strength, helps in digestion, reduces cholesterol. Ragi is also gluten free and hence used by people who are allergic to gluten. However Ragi is bit sticky and heavy in nature and making any food item with ragi requires a lot of patience. Ragi can be used to make cakes, cookies, rotis, dosas, idlis, dhoklas and many more items. I have used vegetable in my idli batter to make it more healthy. This recipe is very healthy for breakfast or lunch. So lets get cooking…

Ingredients:

Ragi flour – 1 cup

Rava/Semolina – 1/4 cup

Ginger-Green Chilli Paste – 2 tsp

Boiled corn kernels – 3-4 tbsp

Onions (chopped) – 1/4 cup

Capsicum (chopped) – 1/4 cup

Zucchini (grated) – 1/2 cup

Cooking Soda/Baking Soda – 1/2 tsp

Curd (preferably one day old and little sour) – 1/4 cup

Water – 1 and 1/4 cups

Salt as per taste

Method:

1) In a bowl sieve the ragi flour and mix in the salt, ginger-green chilli paste and rava. Now add the curd and water and mix it all together till no lumps. The batter will be little thick and sticky and not like your regular idli batter. Cover and keep it aside for 10 minutes.

2) After 10 minutes check the batter it will have become little thick add the remaining 1/4 cup water and add in the corn, onions, capsicum and zucchini and mix it all well. Finally add the cooking soda.

3) Take a idli stand and grease it. Pour the batter in the idli mould of the the stand and steam it for around 15 minutes on high flame. After 15 minutes switch off the gas and let the idli stay in the stand for another 5 minutes. Now open the stand and serve the idli hot.