Ragi Porridge, Healthy Diabetic Dessert

Ragi porridge:

Popular as a breakfast drink, the porridge is easy to prepare.

Make a past of a tablespoon of ragi flour and milk. Heat a cup of milk and bring it to a boil. Add the paste and stir on low flame until the mix boils again.

Add sugar for taste. You can prepare the same drink with half (instead of one) cup of milk. When it cools add half a cup of butter milk and salt and mix well. This is a tasty drink for diabetics too.

Recipe for Ragi Malt

Ingredients:

Two cups of ragi; 2 cups of wheat; one cup of sprouted green gram (moong dal in India); two tablespoons of almond; 2 tablespoon of fried gram, one tablespoon of peanuts, a pinch of saffron; 5 cardamoms

Method:

Roast all ingredients, except fried gram, cardamom and saffron. (Roast peanuts separately and remove the outer skin.) Add these two to the roasted mix and grind to a fine flour. Add one tablespoon of the malt thus obtained to 1 cup of warm milk. Add sugar/ sugar substitute or honey as sweetener, for a delicious and healthy beverage.

Cardamom and saffron are storehouses of nutrition containing ample proteins. Minerals like calcium and iron, and Vitamin C. Saffron also contains vitamin A. Besides, the carbohydrates, minerals and fiber of the various grains are counterbalanced by the proteins provided by the green gram lentil and the almonds. Adding fruits and milk to the malt provides essential vitamins and antioxidants. All in all, a fully balanced meal that is delicious and easy to prepare.

The ragi malt thus prepared is also called huri hittu in Kannada. (Huri-roast, hittu – floor) here are a few one-minute recipes for huri hittu. Add milk, honey and fruits to two tablespoons of huri hittu, to get custard like consistency. It makes a great snack, high on nutrition Add a tablespoon of huri hittu to a cup of milk for a great health drink. Honey or sugar is optional. Prepare jaggery syrup and add the huri hittu to it with a spoon of ghee (clarified butter) and knead to make small balls. Ideal for a between meal snack for children.