Ragi, the unsung hero
Ragi Mudde or Finger Millet balls have been a staple of rural Karnataka cuisine for ages. Ragi, long considered a working class millet, is storming into the menus of many a restaurants in Bangalore and Karnataka. This mustard like black grain has much up it’s sleeve than it’s fairer and more preferred rival, rice. This despite the fact that ragi packs in more punch than rice. ‘It is important to feed the eyes before you feed the stomach‘ wannabe chefs are told, and this is where rice edges out ragi.
Not being superficial to just the looks, we have decided to delve into the substance beneath the dark hard exterior of ragi or Finger Millet. And by the end of the post, we hope to make you give this wonderful grain a second chance if it is not a part of your menu already.
English: Finger millet, African millet, Ragi, Koracan
India: Ragi (Kannada, Telugu), Kelvaragu (Tamil), Maduva (in some parts of north INDIA), Nachani (Marathi)
ragi is rich in proteins. It also provides one of the highest levels of calcium, iron and antioxidants among cereals in addition to being high on dietary fibre content. All of the above makes ragi a super star grain. It is easily and slowly digested (hence helps control blood glucose and a staple with diabetics). The bulkiness of the fiber and the slower digestion rate keeps you full longer and all of this at far lower calories than say rice. Prepared well, it is great tasting and easy on the wallet. As if that wasn’t enough, ragi can be safely stored for years under normal farm household conditions. So, what’s not to like ?
In Karnataka, ragi gets used in a variety of dishes :
- Ragi Mudde :‘ The Ragi dish‘ made by adding ragi flour to boiling water to make soft fluffy balls.
- Ragi Malt : mixed with other whole grains and nuts to be used with milk.
- Ragi Hurittu (roast popped & powered ragi corns) :
- - Mixed with milk and sugar to make an instant porridge — a favorite fix when fasting.
- - Mixed with water and jaggery to make bellada gojju – belgojju
- - A dash of tadka/vaggarane (oil seasoning with a peanuts,mustard,curry leaves, chillies )
- for a dry savory snack.
- Ragi Rotti: on the lines of Akki(rice) Rotti, has ragi flour mixed with chopped chillies, chopped coriander, ginger, fennel in water ; patted onto a tawa and roasted with a dash of oil.
- Ragi Dose – You typical dose with a ragi base.
Fortunately, ragi was a staple where I grew and I have loved all of the above dishes. There are quite a
few websites on the net that showcase interesting articles in the blogosphere about ragi mudde — the ragi dish.
- Shruthi talks about some common perceptions(and mis-perceptions) with a funny undertone. She starts out with a reference to ragi muddeand Deve Gowda — who put the commoner’s dish on the national map with this
tickler when Gowda was PM :Q. Aaj Pradhan Mantri kis mudde par baat karenge?
A. Ragi mudde par.If you are looking for a low calorie, fiber rich, high protein whole grain that is packed with goodness, you ought to give ragi a chance. For diabetics, ragi is a godsend. Go give some of these a shot and let us know how it turned out …..
- Shankar (please check out his posts in indimag) had these very important points to add :
- Ragi needs very less water to grow. So, It is very easy to grow and can be grown during draught. Ragi is the life saver in these weather conditions (Global warming and no proper pattern of rains)
- Paddy needs a lot of water and care, which adds more pressure on our already depleted water table.
- My grand fathers are 85 to 90 years old, to this date have no major disease, and are still productive. Thier diet includes 2 big Ragi mudde in the morning.
- Another way of eating Raagi ball is with ‘pckle & curd’. This is real yummy to eat..
- Ragi flour is available in USA but it is almost double the cost of Rice.
- Rice wins with its color & aroma ; as with anything, most people go with external beauty.
Photos Courtesy : http://www.flickr.com/photos/lathanarasimhan/1400447401
Umm…Yummy ! This article brought back memories of hot ragi mudde that my mother used to make on sundays and we savoured it with ghee/oil & soppina sambar (Greens-curry).
What I would like to add is that Mudde is best enjoyed when one masters the skill of “Swallowing” it as opposed to chewing it !
A staple rural food all over Karnataka & is the daily nutrition and strength contributor to the farmers. A good meal of Ragi Mudde with Sambar and Uppesaru Khara(a dry-pickle like spicy mixture) gives them enough stamina to toil in the fields thru the day.
Glad you liked the article Duvi. Mudde was a favorite with us as well. A close second was Ragi Rotti with Onions…
Nice article Madhu. I have missed Raagi Mudde & Rotti with Yaellu chatni once i left our beloved region for job.
Being a Raagi grower I would like to add few more points:-
1. Raagi needs very less water to grow. So, It is very easy to grow and grown during draught. Raagi is the life saver in this weather conditions (Global warming and no proper pattern of rains)
2. Paddy needs lot of water and care which adds more pressure on our already depleted water table.
3. My grand fathers are 85 to 90 years old and to this date have no disease and still they are productive. Thier diet is 2 Big Raagi mudde in the morning.
4. Another Dish or way of eating Raagi ball is with Pickle & curd. This is real yummy to eat:)
5. Raagi flour is available in USA but it is almost double the cost of Rice.
6. Rice wins with its color & Aroma as with anything most people goes with external beauty.
Great points Shankar. Added them to the article as well so people do not miss it…
Ragi, correctly described as the unsung hero, strictly speaking has become so only in the recent past. As I type this message, my grand mother served me ‘belgojju’ and said ‘raagi tindavanige roga illa’. Ragi Ambali amd Mudde(in Karnataka) and ‘kaLi’ (in Tamil nadu) are (was) the primary source of food of common men. Rice was rich men’s food. Colour I think was the discriminator. But a stoic assessment of both ragi and rice would belittle the proverb – protein 8% and 7.9% (ragi and rice respectively), carbohydrates – 80% and 88 %, fat 1.4% and 0.73%, calcium – 3.8% and 0.03%. But one should be careful. Rice in all these ‘assessments’ is the infamous raw variety – the one used in Malnaad Karnaataka and Kerala. The ‘white rice’ (the culprit colour again) would fare worse. Wheat entered South India only recently – around five to six decades ago. Its nutrional budget is 23% protein, 9% fat, 52% carbohydrates and 13.2% fibre. Wonder whether the proverb would have been different had wheat been introduced to the proverb maker!! Probably not for the proverb makers were hard working. Wheat, ragi or rice would not have made a difference to them. They would have burnt it anway. For practical reasons though as Shankar tells, ragi gets an upper hand. Moral of the story – come out of sedentary life style and eat more Ragi (or wheat or raw rice). But poor we – we lead a sedentary life and eat only white rice. Educated illiterates, aren’t we !!.
Great perspective Theju. Between you and Shankar, you guys are half way to a follow-up article with some great indepth info! Feel free to do a follow up on this if it catches your fancy.
Great article. We need to popularize Ganji also…
Shrinidhi Handes last blog post..Quick notes of Mumbai visit
Thanks for the comment Shrinidhi. Couldn’t agree more..
Not just ganji. I think we should also write about the ragi sari (given for infants instead of cerelac), ragi huri hiTTu (great energiser) etc..
Some people with great experiences should also give us info on the kashaya. I shall try to get one which works great for vertigo and pittha and some very good home remedies for mouth ulcers if we could post those on indimag
Thanks for the comments Roopashree. Very valid points. Want to post an article on the same ? If it interests you, please do respond and we would love to have you write for us..
Regards,
Madhu
Sure Madhu. Would love to do it whenever possible
Not a problem Roopashree. Will create your login and mail it to you. Looking forward to your posts
Both my kids started off solid food with this. Mom used to germinat raagi and then dry fry it and send it to the mill for fine grinding. Every morning I would warm milk and the sprouted raagi and mash in a ripe banana. Both the kids just loved it and slurped it all down! It would keep them happy and full for some time I guess. Today as teenagers they rarely eat sweets! I never used to add any extra sweetener. I attribute this non-sweet tooth to their early food habits. Also they would eat thuppa-anna with mashed up vegetables. Indian relatives would be puzzled that I never added any salt, but at that age they don’t need any additives. So all new parents should try these simple food habits. Both are good eaters and are willing to try new foods. Since we are vegetarians we look upon it as a treasure hunt
Expose kids to as many vegetables and fruits. If they don’t like it one day does NOT mean they will not like it a couple of days or weeks later. Kids are weird like that 