Shanthi Krishnakumar's cook book

INGREDIENTS:

Ragi flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Urad dal flour - 2 tablespoons
White sesame seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing - a generous pinch
Salt - 1 tsp or as needed
Melted butter - 1 tbsp
Hot oil - 1 tbsp
Water - approx 2 3/4 - 3 cups

Oil - to deep fry

INGREDIENTS:

• Foxtail millet (Thinai) or Any millet - 2 cups
• Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup 
• Tomato - 2 medium sized
• Salt - to taste
• Oil

METHOD:

• Soak foxtail millet (Thinai) (OR any millet) for 3 hours and grind it along with scraped coconut, tomato and salt to a fine paste. (Do not allow the batter to ferment).
• Add water to make a medium-thin batter (the batter should not be very watery or very thick).
• Heat a dosa tawa, pour the batter from the sides (as of rava-dosa).
• Drizzle very little oil to the sides. When done, turn it to the other side. Serve hot.
• Goes well with dosai molaga podi,or any chutney of your choice.

Ragi mudde is a nutritious healthy ball made with ragi flour and water. It is a wholesome meal and staple food in Karnataka. It is also called as 'Ragi sangati' in Andhra and 'Ragi kaLi' in Tamilnadu. 'Ragi koozh' also known as 'Aadi koozh' is popular in TamilNadu. In the Tamil month of Aadi, 'ragi koozh' is offered and distributed as 'Prasadam' in Mariamman temples. There are several health benefits of Ragi. Ragi has high fibre content and rich in calcium. It helps in increasing HDL cholesterol and lowers triglycerides. But people who have thyroid disorder, refrain from having ragi frequently.

Traditional way:

Mix a tablespoon of ragi flour in water to make a thin paste. Add water & salt into a heavy bottomed pan and when this boils add the thin paste, mix well add remaining ragi flour evenly on top of it, close the pan and cook in medium flame for 6 to 7 minutes without disturbing the flour. Then with a mudde kOlu, stir well until all the flour becomes a single mass. Switch off the flame. Cover and keep for a few minutes and when still hot, add ghee and take a portion of dough and shape into balls.

Now, to the easy way.

This recipe is the easiest way of making Ragi mudde without a mess, useful for beginners.

INGREDIENTS:

Ragi flour - 1 cup.
Water - 1 3/4 to 2 cups.
Salt - to taste ( I used 1/3tsp.)
Ghee - 2 tablespoons

METHOD:

Combine ragi flour with water and mix well without any lumps to a batter consistency. Keep aside.

Grease a plate with little ghee. Keep ready.

In a thick bottomed kadai /non-stick kadai, boil 1 1/2 cup of water alongwith salt and a teaspoon of ghee. When water starts boiling, add the the ragi batter, mix well with a wooden ladle. (Traditionally, a stick called 'Mudde kOlu' is used to stir the mix). Stir continuously until thick. Add ghee and stir and until it forms a lump and leaves the sides. Cook further until the dough becomes shiny. Cook covered in low flame for a minute and switch off the flame.

When hand-bearable hot, transfer the ragi dough to the greased plate. Smear ghee on your hands and shape to balls/mudde (tennis ball size). If the dough is hot, dip your hand in water for each ball. Alternatively, you can grease a small bowl with ghee put the required quantity of ragi dough in the bowl and rotate it which forms round balls. Serve hot with sambar. Goes well with saaru and buttermilk too.

A note on how to eat?

And a small tip in eating these muddes; Mudde will be sticky and remain on your tooth if chewed. Ragi mudde is dipped in saaru/ sambar and swallowed. i.e, A small portion of ragi mudde is 'pinched', dipped in the sambar and simply swallowed. 😋

And what if chewed? Taking it out of your teeth will be a horrible experience. Chew and find it 😉 OR pop it into your mouth, swallow, repeat. 😃

Note:
Thin ragi batter gives smooth and soft Ragi Mudde.
Use a thick wooden ladle or back of the wooden ladle for easy mixing.

Dry roast aval & oats until you get an aroma. Coarsely powder  in a mixie. Soak  dhals and chillies for 2 hours. Using very little water, grind dhals to a coarse consistency. Add powdered oats and aval, and grind again to a medium thick batter. Add water if necessary. Add chopped curry leaves and mix it well. 

Heat a tawa, pour a ladle of batter, spread the batter, drizzle oil on sides and cook until both sides are crisp and golden brown. Serve hot with avial, avakkai and dosai milagai podi.

INGREDIENTS:

Wash millet sevai well and soak in warm water for 5 minutes. Drain water completely, spread it in a colander. 

Combine all ingredients. Add drained millet semia, sprinkle little water and mix well to a thick batter.

Heat oil. Take a small portion from the batter and drop it gently into the oil. Ensure medium heat of oil and put 7 or 8 in a batch (this depends  on how much oil you heat). Deep fry until golden brown. Repeat the procedure with the remaining batter. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or chutney.

INGREDIENTS:

Oats - 1/2 cup (dry roasted and powdered)
Roasted rava - 2 tablespoon
Grated ginger - 1/2 tsp.
Green chillies - 2 (Finely chopped)
Chopped cabbage - 1/4 cup
Coriander leaves - 2 tablespoons(finely chopped)

INGREDIENTS:

Cooked rajma - 2 cups
Cooked barnyard millet (Or any cooked millet) - 1 cup
Boiled  and mashed potato - 1
Powdered cashew - 2 tablespoon
Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp.
Red chilli powder  - 1/2 tsp.
Roasted cumin powder  - 1/4 tsp.
Pav bhaji masala OR Garam masala - 1/2 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Finely chopped coriander leaves - fistful
Oil - to shallow fry

To coat:
Corn flour - 2 tablespoons
Bread crumbs - as needed


METHOD:

Cook rajma alongwith salt until soft, drain water and pulse in a mixie for a few seconds alongwith powdered cashew and ginger paste. Add all ingredients, mix and knead well without any lumps. In a spoon of oil, saute this mixture for 2 minutes. When cool, divide into equal sized balls, shape to pattice or kebabs. 

Dissolve corn flour in  1/2 a cup of water. Dip the pattice in this solution, coat in bread crumbs and shallow fry until crisp on all sides. It can also be deep fried.

Healthy millet rajma patties is ready. Serve hot with tomato ketchup and tea. 

NOTE: Sauteed onions can be added to the mixture. Ginger garlic paste can be used instead of ginger paste.

 



Proso millet sevai OR any millet sevai - 2 cups
Carrot, shelled peas, mango finely chopped - 1 cup
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp.
Split urad dhal - 1 tsp.
Chenna dhal - 1/2 tsp.
Dry red chillies - 1 or 2

This is a perfect party and tea-time snack. Its is an easy to make, tasty and healthy snack.

INGREDIENTS:

Whole white urad dhal - 1/2 cup
Split urad dhal - 1 tablespoon 
Mixed vegetables (carrot, cabbage) - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2 
Oats - 2 tablespoons
Mixed millet flour - 2 tablespoons
Curry leaves - a sprig (chopped)
Grated ginger - a teaspoon
Coriander leaves - few (finely chopped) 
Salt - to taste
Oil - to deep fry
Onion  - (optional, I didn't use)

METHOD:

Soak both urad dhals separately  for 45 minutes. Chop vegetables and green chillies finely. Dry roast oats and powder. Dry roast  mixed millet flour until hot.

Drain the soaked water and grind whole urad dhal to a smooth and fluffy paste. Add very little water if necessary. Add the soaked split urad dhal to it. Add the oats and millet powders and all other ingredients.  Mix well. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes. The batter consistency should be like vada batter. Shape to mini balls.

Heat oil, and deep fry the  mini bondas / balls in oil, until 3/4th done and drain  in a kitchen towel. When all the balls are done, deep fry for the second time until golden brown and crisp. Serve hot with chutney, sambhar or ketchup.

NOTE:  Deep frying for the second time gives crispy bondas.

Ram khichri is an easy to make, wholesome meal from Gujarat, made with rice and moong dhal . I have tried it with cornmeal, which doesn't need any side dish. However, it can be served with pickle, curd or any chutney.

INGREDIENTS:

Corn meal - 1/2 cup
Moong dhal - 1/2 cup
Water - 3 1/2 cups
Mixed vegetables ( Beans, carrot, shelled peas) - 1 cup
Chopped tomato - 1
Grated ginger - 1/2 tsp.
Green chillies - 1 finely chopped
Pepper jeera powder - 2 teaspoons
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon stick - 1" piece - 1
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Hing (asafoetida) - a pinch
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few

This is a tasty, simple and mild sweet with barnyard millet, slightly different from Akkaravadisal and Sakkarai pongal. I tried the  same method as kalkandu bhath and substituted panankalkandu instead of kalkandu. It was really  good and a healthy recipe for sure.

INGREDIENTS:

Kudiraivali(Barnyard millet) OR any millet - 1 cup
Panam kalkandu (Palm Sugar candy) - 1 1/2 cup (roughly crushed)
Saffron - 1 pinch
Cashews - 10
Kismis(dry grapes) - 10
Pachaikarpooram - very little
Cardamom - 3 (powdered)
Milk - 4 cups
Ghee - 6 tablespoons

Panamkalkandu (Palm sugar candy)

INGREDIENTS:

Mixed millet flour OR any millet flour - 3/4 cup
Jaggery crushed - little less than 3/4 cup
Dry ginger powder (sukku podi) - 1/4 tsp.
Curd  - 1 tablespoon 
Cardamom powdered - 1/4 tsp.
Chopped coconuts - 2 tsp.
Ghee / Oil - for deep frying

METHOD:

Fry the coconut pieces in ghee. Mix all the ingredients well. Add water little by little and whisk well to form a batter. The batter consistency should be semi thick(not too thin or too thick). Keep aside for 2 to 3 hrs.  Heat a paniyaram mould, drop in a spoon of ghee and pour the batter in each dent, little more than 3/4th. Simmer the stove, cook covred for 2 minutes, turn to the other side and fry unitl golden brown.

TIPS: Adding curd gives the airy holes and soft appams.  

NOTE: Millets flour are available at stores. Alternatively you can mix 1/4 kg.each of any millets of your choice and grind to a flour in a flour mill.

INGREDIENTS:

Kudiravali (Barnyard millet) or any millet - 1 cup
Toor dhal - 3/4 cup
Tamarind - a lemon sized ball OR Homemade tamarind paste - 1 1/2 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Sambar powder - 1/2 tsp.
Mixed vegetables(carrot, beans, potatoes, shelled peas) - 1 1/4 cup
Salt - as per taste
Gingelly oil - 3 tablespoons
Ghee - 2 tsp.
Ghee fried cashews - 8
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Curry leaves - few
Water -5 cups

TO POWDER:
Cinnamon stick - 1"
Cloves - 4
Coriander seeds(Dhania) - 2 tablespoons
Gram dhal - 1 tsp.
Maratta mokku - 2
Dry red chillies - 2
Byadgi chillies - 2
Poppy seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Hing
Dessicated OR fresh scraped coconut - 2 tsp.

METHOD:

Click here for picture of millets, how to cook millets and glossary of millets. 
Wash millets and pressure cook alongwith toor dhal and turmeric powder. Mash well and keep aside.

Extract juice from tamarind. Keep aside.

In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat a spoon of oil and fry the items mentioned in "to powder" in order and dry grind in a mixie.

In the same pan, heat oil, add the mixed vegetables, little salt and when half done add the tamarind extract, sambar powder and boil until the raw smell goes. Now add the pressure cooked millet  and dhal mixture. Add salt to suit  your taste. Add a cup of water to get the desired consistency. Cook for a while, in medium heat. Stir frequently until everything  is mixed well. Now add the powdered items. Mix well and stir for a minute.

Temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add fried cashews. Top with ghee and serve hot with deep fried javvarisi vadaam or papads.

Dhadhiyonnam (Thayir saadam) given at temples as prasadam always tastes heavenly. It is always comfortable to end up a meal with curd rice. This is a simple way of making curd millet. Any millet can be used and also tastewise there is not much difference. Those who are avoiding rice for health issues and those who would prefer ending  up the meal with a curd rice can make this and get satisfied.

INGREDIENTS:

Click here for picture of millets, how to cook millets and glossary of  millets. 

INGREDIENTS:

Varagu (Kodo millet) - 2 1/2 cups
Javvarisi (Sago) - 1 cup
Whole white Urad dhal - 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp.
Salt - as per taste


METHOD:

INGREDIENTS:

Samai - 1 cup
Toor dhal - 1/2 cup
Gram dhal - 1/2 cup
Urad dhal - fistful
Thick aval (poha) - fistful (optional)
Dry red chillies - 8 
Grated coconut - 3 tablespoons (optional)
Curry leaves - a sprig
Hing - a generous pinch
Salt - as per taste
Oil - to drizzle



METHOD:

Soak samai separately. Soak dhals and aval alongwith red chillies separately for 2 hours. Drain the water. Grind samai to a coarse paste, add soaked dhals and grind further to a thick coarse paste, sprinkling little water alongwith curry leaves, hing, and grated coconut ( I didn't add coconut, though ). Add salt and mix well. The batter should be slightly thicker and coarse.

In a pan, pour the batter and spread it from centre. Drizzle oil on sides. Cook until golden brown and crisp and flip to the other side. Goes well with butter and avial( Aviyal recipe is here). Serve hot with molagapodi, jaggery, or any chutney of your choice.