As most of you know I'm relatively a newcomer to the food blogosphere. I started my blog on 14th of March 2008. Around the 2nd week of April I came to know about Dining Hall (the old one) and Food Blog Desam and sent mails to be a part of it. I received mails stating that both these forums were not active. So when I found out about the new Dining Hall, I was really surprised and thrilled both at the same time. Thank you very much Siri and DK for doing this. They have started this new forum with a bang. One among the many creative ideas they are up to is the International Food League's Open Sesame Contest. To make it short, we have to solve a riddle, for which the answer is an ingredient with which we have to cook and if you are lucky enough you may also end up with a prize!
This was my riddle:
I am old and ancient and in many places a staple
health and longevity are wonders I wear like a lapel
My different forms give different taste
one form is enjoyed in the mornings - eaten in haste!
Another form is in form of soups and porridge
Or in forms of plain or stuffed breads
I thrive in the hot summers..But make you feel good and warm
I am good to people although many just use me for feeding birds and cattle in farms
I am just no mean and lowly grass with striking resemblance to maize
I have 'pearls' of wisdom to share if you want, to listen to me with grace
People with celiac turn to me
I give you fiber and irons, so rich i am for the world to see
Now sit tight and give it a hard thought - be clever be sane
to guess who I am, the highly nutritious and healthful whole grain.
As soon as I read the riddle I thought of 3 grains:
1. "enjoyed in the mornings - eaten in haste" - oats
2. "pearls of wisdom" - I thought may be pearl barley
3. "feeding birds and cattle in farms' - millet
So first, I emailed Siri with oats as the answer, but she replied that it's not oats. Then I googled barley and celiac disease and found that people with the disease should not consume barley. Then I googled celiac and millets and found that it's good for the disease, so emailed that and found that it was the correct answer.
Reason for choosing this particular recipe:
There are many types of millets and the dishes that can be prepared with those are also countless. Since I love baking, I thought of baking millet bread. As mentioned in the riddle, I also came across a wonderful recipe for a stuffed bread using millets. It looked so yummy and simple to bake too. Instead I chose finger millet (ragi) and this kozhukattai (dumpling) recipe because the ingredients are easily available and anybody can make this. Not everybody will be interested in baking or everybody has an oven. So I wanted to make something very simple, delicious and nutritious too. I have made the very same kozhukattai 3 years back when I saw the recipe in a Tamil magazine. Unfortunately I did not save the recipe. So I was searching the net for the recipe and to my luck, the very same recipe was published in another Tamil magazine very recently.
Recipe
Finger Millet Dumplings Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Finger Millet Flour (Ragi Flour)
- ¾ Cup Powdered Jaggery
- ½ Cup Mung Daal
- ¼ Cup Grated Coconut
- 1 Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
Instructions
- In a frying pan, dry roast the mung daal for 2-3 minutes and cook it. Note that the daal should not be cooked completely. Don't use a pressure cooker, it will become very mushy. In a saucepan add 2 cups of water and let it cook for a couple of minutes. It should be par boiled. Now drain this and keep it aside.
- While the daal is cooking, dry roast the ragi flour also for a couple of minutes. Ragi flour tends to lump and is sticky also. To avoid that, the flour is just heated for sometime.
- Combine the ragi flour, grated coconut, cardamom powder and cooked mung daal.
- In a saucepan add the jaggery and water just enough to cover the jaggery and heat it. Once the jaggery dissolves filter the solution to get rid of impurities. Now pour the liquid back into the saucepan and boil it for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and combine to form a dough. Add some water/milk if required. Now pinch golf ball size dough and shape it into cylinders in your palm making a fist. I got 11 dumplings for the above measurement.
- Place it in an idli plate and steam it just like you would steam idlis, but for an additional 10 minutes.
My Notes
- As mentioned earlier, steam the kozhukattai for more time than you would steam idlis. Mine did not cook properly in the inside, so I had to steam it for another 10 minutes and it was done perfect.
- Also eat it immediately, it hardens after a while.
Taste & Texture
- Ragi kozhukattai was very delicious. We all loved it. It's a very healthy after school snack for kids, without oil and white sugar. Enjoy!
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Usha says
I make this regularly as it’s very healthy. I always wait for the colour of the kolkattai to turn dark in colour and then prick it with a skewer after 20 minutes of steaming and when it comes out clean then it’s cooked in the center. I always do it with only grated coconut and salt as I am diabetic. The dough is made into a ball and held in the palm then squeezed by pressing the 4 fingers on it to get ridges and grooves. That’s how a typical Indian Kolkattai looks .
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Usha.
Ramar says
Very Nice
sangeetakhanna says
I am making this one ASAP....i live any kinda steamed dumplings and with ragi i can't wait to try this.
Madhuram says
If you like ragi, you should try the following recipe too: http://www.vegcorner.com/ragi-flour-and-walnut-laddu/
sharmilee says
Have posted it a week back, do check it out! :http://sharmis-passions.blogspot.com/2009/10/steamed-fingermillet-dumplingsragi.html
Sharmilee says
I made this today and it was super delicious! Will post the pics sooner.
Thanks for trying it Sharmilee.
sai says
i just made it. loved it. i did not have coconut. so skipped that. it was an apt naivedhyam for mahashivarathri today. only thing is i made this specially for my picky 2 yr old who did not eat this either. 🙁 thanks a bundle
Ya, it's difficult to satisfy kids. I'm glad you liked it.
Madhuram says
Thank you guys for all your compliments. Do try it and let me know if you liked it.
Cham, Uma eagerly waiting to see what you come up with.
Kaykat, even I did'nt like it earlier. But love this one.
Shubha, you can get it in the Indian store. I see it in the stores here all the time.
RedChillies, you can also try the savory version of this, by adding carrots, green chilies etc.
Laavanya says
i haven't made / eaten this before. looks great! 😀
ranji says
i love kozhukatai..have made it only using wheat and rice flour...addition of dal is new to me...delcious snack to have anytime:)..ur version loooks really good.
Swati Raman says
love these koyakattais...
rupa says
this is something very new to me....will have to try it sometime....when I get back home
Madhavi says
Hi Madhu, very nice recipe, intresting, thanxxx for sharing!!!
Jayashree says
A very interesting idea.....I'd love to try this out...will let u know how it turns out.
Swati: Sugarcraft India says
I like the flour that you used.different from the usual wheat flour used. I love all sweets and jaggery and coconut make sweets taste so much better..Great recipe!!
RedChillies says
Great idea. I do have some raagi flour at hand and need to try something different like this.
notyet100 says
wow nice one,..
DivyA Vikram says
That was a lovely riddle..Thanks to Siri and Dhivya..And the kozhukattai looks too pretty and yummy madhu..love any type of kozhukattais..thanks for the recipe
Hetal says
This is a delicious looking healthy recipe,thanx for sharing..
Shubha says
Hey nice recipe madhu.... I tried searching for ragi flour here... but didnt get it.... guess will have to get some when i go to india...:)
Kaykat says
I used to hate raagi when I was a kid, but lately my whole grain fetish has turned me around. The chewy, earthy flavour is *so* good. I'll be trying these soon!
sukanya says
Hi Madhuram:
This is my fav. U reminded me abt it. Love it. Looks so good. YUM!. Turned out so perfect. 😛
arundathi says
what a great idea - ragi kozhakattai! that sounds delicious too!
Uma says
I got the same riddle too. Isn't millet means bajra? Love your recipe. the dumplings looks so easy and delicious, Madhu!
kamala says
Love the kozhakattai Madhu
Cham says
I got the same riddle Madhu! Love the kozhukattai idea may be i got to turn savory for my taste 😀
sangeeth says
very nice recipe....i luv this ragi balls...i make them often...my hubby doesnt like them though...anyways...dinning h all is really rocking 🙂
Laksh says
looks deceptively simple. specially since i have a sweet tooth, i will try this.
SS says
This is a good one , we make ragi rottai and of course porridge too.