Ragi and Mixed Vegetable Roti

Ragi, or finger millet as it is also known as, is a very nutritious cereal. It is used extensively in the southern part of India and more so in Karnataka. It is specially known for its famous dish “Ragi Mudde” i.e. Ragi balls served with sambhar. I am not a fan of this particular dish but I do try to incorporate Ragi flour in dosas or chapattis as Ragi has a lot of health benefits.

Now this dish is neither a dosa i.e. you cannot spread it with a ladle nor is it a chapatti as you cannot roll it out with a rolling pin. Hence it is named "Roti". Well, you have to make use of your fingers to spread it on a dosa pan /skillet. The dough or the batter should not be stiff nor should it be watery but should have enough moisture in it. You can spread it as thinly as possible and this has to be done a bit quickly as ragi cooks very fast and spreading it will be difficult if the pan/tawa is very hot.  Thinner the rotis, crispier and tastier it will be.  Keep the flame low and every time a new roti is to be spread, sprinkle water so as to cool the tawa/skillet temperature. Another point to note - a food processor will do the job of grating all the vegetables in a jiffy. Keeping these tips in mind, you will have a perfect roti.

This recipe was given to me by my aunt. I tried this recently and it tasted really good.  It is an ideal and a healthy breakfast dish. However, it is advisable to prepare the batter the previous day and keep it in the fridge to avoid the morning rush!

 

Ingredients:

Ragi Flour	2 cups
Cucumber (grated)	1 large
Radish/Mooli (grated)	1 Medium
Simebadnekayi/Chayote (grated)	1 Medium
Carrot (grated)	1 Medium
Onion (chopped finely)	1 large
Green chillies (chopped)	1 - 2 or as per taste
Coriander leaves (chopped)	1 small bunch
Salt	As per taste
Oil	For shallow frying
Water	A small bowl for dipping fingers

Method:

1. Grind or Crush green chilies with salt and place it in a large bowl.
2. In the same bowl, add the chopped onions, all the grated vegetables and the chopped coriander leaves. Mix them well with your hand.
3. Now combine Ragi flour into this mixture. As the vegetables will leave a lot of water, it is not necessary to add any additional water. Mix it well so that no lumps are formed. The mixture or the batter should be semi-solid.
4. Now heat a skillet/griddle on a low flame. Smear it with very little oil. Take a handful of the prepared mixture and spread it on the skillet as thinly as possible using your fingers. If it sticks to your hand, dip your fingers in the water bowl and then spread it.  Dribble a little oil all around the roti. Turn it over and let it cook on the other side for another minute and remove when done.
5. Follow the same procedure for the remaining batter.
6. Serve hot with a dollop of homemade white butter.

Ingredients

All ready to be mixed

All the chopped and grated ingredients combined in a bowl

  

Ragi flour combined with the vegetable mix - the batter

 

The batter spread on the tawa/skillet

 

The roti being cooked on the other side

Preparation time: 15-20mins

Cooking time :    15 mins

Makes : 10-12 rotis depending upon the size.

Note:

• This is a great breakfast dish. As it’s spicy, needs no chutney. However, it tastes wonderful with a dollop of homemade white butter.
• Addition of chilies in the recipe is as per your taste.
• The rotis need very little oil while shallow frying.
• Any vegetables that has lot of water content can be used in making this dish.
• See here:  Simebadnekayi/Chou-Chou/Chayote - for yet another recipe of this vegetable.