Sneha's Recipe: Ragi

Ragi idli are steamed cakes made with Ragi/Finger millets & urad dal. Traditionally idli recipe is made with urad dal and idli rice. Ragi Idli are so soft and spongy, nutritious millet it's also vegan, gluten free and a gut friendly breakfast , meal or snack.

Ragi is also know as Finger Millet which along with other millet varieties are a fine choice for people living with diabetes, as it's higher in fiber, minerals, and amino acids than white rice. Ragi has also the highest plant-based calcium, minerals, protein and dietary fibers.

Ingredients
1 Cup Ragi
1 Cup Idli Rice
¾ Cup Urad dal
¼ Teaspoon Methi/ Fenugreek seeds
1 Teaspoon Oil
Salt as required

Method
Soak Idli rice for 4-5 hours in a bowl.

Soak Urad dal & methi seeds in another bowl for 4-5 hours.
Drain the water.

Grind all the ingredients to very smooth batter by adding as little as water as possible to a paste.

Pour the batter in the large pot/vessel & mix it thoroughly with your hands for about 3 - 4 minutes so that it get fluffy and this also helps in good fermentation of the batter.
Keep this batter overnight for fermentation.
Next day add salt as per taste & mix batter gently. Grease the idli mold & pour a ladle full of batter into each slot.

Steam the idlis for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Drumstick Sambar Recipe / Murungakkai Sambar

A delicious Sambar plays a important roll in South Indian lunch menu. No festival or marriage function meal is complete without it. Each region in South India has its own way of making it. I have posted quite a lot of sambar variation on blog, you can check them out.

This is a different sambar recipe which is made with drumstick and three different dals. So it is really healthy one. The drumstick added in this gives a very unique taste to the sambar and flavors the sambar a lot. I used my homemade sambar powder for this, that too enhanced the taste a lot. So try this out and let me know how it turned out for you.

Serves 5 to 6
Ingredients
¼ Cup Tur Dal
¼ Cup Masoor Dal
¼ Cup Moong Dal
6 to 7 Shallots / Sambar Onion - peeled
3 -4 Drumsticks - cut into pieces
2 Tablespoon Tamarind Pulp
Salt to taste
1 Teaspoon Jaggery
3 to 4 Tablespoons Homemade Sambar Powder
For Tadka / Tempering
1 Tablespoon Oil
1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
½ Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
¼ Teaspoon Asafoetida

Method

Wash all the dals well. Add it to a pot along with shallots. Cover with water. Bring it to boil, cover and simmer until the dal is 80% cooked. Now add in drumstick, salt, jaggery, tamarind pulp, sambar powder and mix well. Bring this to boil and simmer again for 20 mins till everything is cooked.

Now make make the tadka by heating oil and crackling mustard and cumin. Add in asafoetida and mix well.