Ragi Mudde / Finger millet Cake

Ragi is also called as Finger Millet. It is very rich in protein. It has a high level of carbohydrate too. It is considered to be a very good meal for people who work in the agricultural fields and people having very high physical activity in their work. Ragi can also be used to make Rotis, Pancakes, Pudding and Porridge. They are also used to make nutritive drinks along with milk and buttermilk.

Ragi Mudde is a very popular dish in South India in the state of Karnataka. Flour from finger millet is cooked and steamed in water and is rolled into balls. A spicy and flavorful Gravy/ Curry/ Sambar is used to dip these balls and eat them. It is not eaten normally like chewing the other food. Small balls of the size of shallots are made out of the big balls and dipped in the Curry/Sambar and is swallowed. Eating them by chewing will mess up the teeth and the flour will stick to all the teeth which will take loads of time to clean up later.

The Recipe for the Mudde is as follows.

Ingredients:
(Makes about 6 medium sized cakes)

Finger millet flour/ Ragi Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Water - 2 cups
Clarified Butter/Ghee - 1 tablespoon
Salt - To taste

Method:

• In a pan/ Kadai, add the water and the Ghee. Allow the water to warm up a little.
• Once the water is warm, add about a tablespoon of Ragi flour to the water. Let the flour dissolve completely and let the water boil well.
• Add the salt and allow the water to come to a full boil.
• Once the water has boiled, add the remaining Ragi flour and mix it well with a thick wooden spatula.
• Traditionally, Ragi flour is mixed with a thick wooden stick as shown below. The stick that is used here is enough to make Ragi Mudde for a small family. The thicker the stick is the better it is for mixing.(I got the stick from the local Home Depot store).

• Make sure that there are no lumps in the mixture.
• Once the flour is mixed completely, sprinkle a little water and cover the Kadai and steam the mixture for about 7-10 minutes and allow it to cook well.
• Turn off the heat. Take a bowl filled with cold water. Wet your hands. Take a small portion of the flour in your hands and roll it in the shape of a ball as shown below.You can vary the size as per your requirement.

• Serve hot with Sambar / curry of your choice.

• The Sambar I used here is what I made out of Horse-gram  also called as Kollu in Tamil and Hurali Kaalu in Kannada. Here is the Recipe.