RAGI MALT POWDER

Recipe for an Ultimate Health Drink

Humble cereal; brownish maroon coloured; can easily be mistaken for mustard seeds by newbies in the culinary kingdom; rich in calcium and fibre; low in fat and hence best for calorie curbing; most favoured flour for baby’s bone development; diehard fan of diabetics; that’s Ragi (Finger Millet) for us. Ragi is most commonly used in flour form. So get ready to prepare this flour and... what to do with it? Well….Ragi Malt, Ragi Lassi, Ragi juice, Ragi laddus, Ragi soup. One flour, multiple uses. Can’t imagine cooking getting simpler than this! Utterly simple dishes from a staple cereal….all of these helping us grow richer in health and nutrition.

While Ragi Or Finger Millet is the core ingredient in this recipe, many others are added to supplement, enhance and balance the nutrition value. 

Ingredients:

Ragi                  1000 gms (sprouted and dried in shade)

Wheat                200 gms (sprouted and dried in shade)

Mung Bean        200 gms (sprouted and dried in shade)

Rice                   200 gms  (unpolished red rice, sprouting optional)

Foxtail Millet      100 gms

Barnyard Millet  100 gms

Pearl Millet        100 gms

Little Millet        100 gms

Peanuts              50 gms (optional)

Cashewnuts      100 gms

Almonds           100 gms

Pista                 100 gms

Dried dates        50 gms

Nutmeg               2 pcs 

Cardamom      4 to 6 nos. (optional, I don’t use since flexibility of using the powder for non-sweet preparations is lost)

Directions:

Dry fry all the above ingredients individually, in a skillet on low flame. Transfer each of them to a plate. Let it cool thoroughly and completely. Else lumps will form while grinding. Grind them preferably in a flour mill to a fine powder. While grinding, first grind hard ingredients like dried dates and nutmeg, followed by almonds, cashewnuts, pista and peanuts and then add rest of the ingredients. Do the grinding at intervals with short breaks in between so that heat generated by the appliance doesn’t get transferred to the contents. Even so, when the powder is completely done, it would have warmed up. Hence, immediately spread the powder in thin layer form on a clean thick paper or on an absolutely clean and dry cotton cloth laid over a dry table kept in a cool, dry place. Let it stand till it is completely cool. Transfer it to an air tight container. Yield: 2 kgs approx.

Recipe for Ragi Malt using Ragi Malt Powder (RMP) 

Put 1 tbsp. of jaggery powder or liquid jaggery or sugar (I don’t use sugar) and 1 tbsp. of RMP in a glass or tumbler. Put 1 or 2 tbspns. of room temparature water and mix them. By doing this way, jaggery and RMP get blended well without any lumps. Now add hot boiled milk to fill the glass. Stir well. Ragi Malt is now ready. Drink it hot and stay energized rest of the day!

Tete a tete:

Sprout Ragi, Wheat and Mung Bean a day before you plan to prepare this powder. Make sure they are dried thoroughly  in shade before dry frying them.

Sprouted (and dried in shade) Jowar and Channa dal (brown) may also be included.

The list of ingredients mentioned in the recipe is close to ultimate! While we recommend using all of them, don’t feel exhausted by the list. Give or take a few of them. It will still be tasty!
Mixing of millets done after hearing from experts in the field. However, I am told it is not advisable to mix them "while cooking".

*Time required for me is approx. 3 weeks since I don’t do it at one go. Moreover, soaking, sprouting and drying of some ingredients takes time. Soaking: 6 to 8 hrs Sprouting: 24 hrs Drying in shade: 1 to 2 days depending on the weather. 

A word more to share since I care…

Dry frying requires regular stirring and careful monitoring. The process calls for loads of patience, proper attention and complete concentration. Nonetheless it is extremely enjoyable, turning you into a meditative mood and totally worth the effort. Do it just for the sheer joy of it and enjoy the experience!

Recipes viewed here are a part of  "Mangala's Potluck" section in this blog