Ragi Idiyappam & Ragi Sevai

-Submitted by Dahlia

(Ragi Nool Puttu, Finger Millet Idiyappam, Healthy Ragi Sevai, Kelvaragu Idiyappam, Nachani Noodles)

Ragi Idiyappam is one of the healthiest tiffin items. I have mentioned the health benefits of including millets in our daily diet on several occasions. Ragi is suitable for adults, aged and even infants.

Idiyappam (or Nool Puttu) is traditionally made with rice flour, the recipe for which I have shared before. Its variation is called Sevai. These days' different sevais, with all millets, are available in dry form. You just have to re-hydrate them in some hot water and enjoy eating. It surely makes life easier. However, if you have a large family, you may need to buy multiple packets to feed the entire family, which could be quite expensive. Also, you may not have it on stock at all times. It is actually very easy to make millet idiyappams from scratch if you have ragi (or any millet) flour on hand. So here comes the recipe of the most popular millet idiyappam in our family – The Ragi Idiyappam. My kids love to call it the Chocolate Idiyappam.

This recipe is made by making dough with ragi flour, making thin noodles using a special idiyappam press and then steaming it. Steaming is one of the healthiest ways of cooking as we do not require any (or require very little) fat. All the nutrients are retained. So try out this recipe and enjoy without any guilt.

Recipe for Ragi Idiyappam

Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Cooking Time : 10 minutes
Serves : 2

Ingredients

• Ragi (Fingermillet) Flour – 1 cup
• Water – app. 1.5 cups
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 1 tsp

Method

1. Dry roast the ragi flour on low flame till a nice aroma comes. It takes about 3-4 minutes. This step takes off the earthy flavor of ragi and makes the end product very tasty. Alternatively, you can dry roast a whole batch of flour when you buy from the market so that you don’t have to dry roast it each time.
2. Bring the water to a boil in a sauce pan. Add salt and oil to it.
3. Add this water little by little to the ragi flour. Keep mixing it with a spoon. Once the flour gets a little crumbly, cover and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
4. It will cool down a bit. Now add little more water and knead with your hands to form smooth dough. You may or may not need all of the water depending on the freshness of your flour.
5. Take a idiyappam press and grease it. Also, grease the idli plates or idiyappam plates, whichever you have on hand. If you do not have either, just grease any vessel that fits inside a bigger one for steaming.
6. Fill water in the pot for steaming. I usually use my idli cooker for steaming.
7. Fill in small portion of the prepared dough inside the idiyappam press. Press in circular motion onto the idli plates or the idiyappam plates. You will get pretty looking strings of the dough.
8. Stack the plates and place them inside the big pot. Steam for about 10 minutes.

Serving Ragi Idiyappam

• If you have a sweet tooth, enjoy these warm idiyappms with some freshly grated coconut, a sprinkle of cardamom powder and some sugar.
• If you are a spice lover, enjoy it with any curries like coconut milk chutney, kurma, stew etc.

Ragi Sevai

Some people also like to make a quick seasoning of mustard seeds, urad dal, dry red chillies and curry leaves. Add the prepared idiyappam and toss it with the seasoning. This is called Ragi Sevai.

More Recipes With Ragi

Ragi Roti	Ragi Adai	Ragi Puttu	Bhakri
See more...