Ragi, also known as Nachni is a finger millet that is widely produced in a few Indian states like Karnataka and Maharashtra. In the past few decades, Ragi has grown very popular for the several health benefits it provides. Ragi is processed into a flour form and Ragi flour is gluten-free in nature, which makes it an attractive option for people with gluten allergies and fitness freaks! Ragi flour when consumed can be very filling.
Ragi powder contains a low number of calories, a high amount of protein and calcium and an abundance of natural fibres which aid digestion and overall growth of the body. This is one of the main reasons why Ragi is fed to babies, growing children, and pregnant women.
Ragi is commonly consumed for breakfast dishes. Since Ragi can be very filling, health experts advise consuming Ragi during the daytime and avoiding it at night. Some most popular Ragi dishes include South Indian breakfast favourites like Ragi Dosa, Ragi Idli, Ragi Mudde etc. In these dishes, Ragi flour is made into a thick batter and then cooked as Dosas, Idlis and Balls.
Baking with Ragi flour
However, Ragi can be used to make various non-breakfast items too. For example, it can be particularly used to bake sweet goodies like cookies, biscuits, and cakes among other items. If you want to start adding Ragi into your sweat dishes, you can begin experimenting with simple items like a plain Ragi cake with Vanilla flavouring. For this cake, you might need a small amount of whole wheat atta or Maida, but Ragi flour can easily take centre stage and with the help of raising agents like Baking Soda and Baking Powder and give you a fluffy and moist Ragi flour cake.
Adding ingredients like Chocolate icing, carrot slices etc, can amp up this dish and give you a wholesome cake to indulge in. Adding Ragi flour into cupcakes and muffins is also possible and can make for a favourable way to make kids consume more wholesome sweets!
Other than a variety of cakes, Ragi can be included in your basic pancake ingredient list to give you gluten-free, and healthier sweet pancakes to have for breakfast. And, if you are tired of having whole wheat bread, you can also bake a Multigrain bread and add Ragi flour into the mix with other whole grain flours for a healthy and wholesome batch of freshly baked bread.
To make all these sweet recipes and more, it is important to use a high-quality Ragi flour product. AASHIRVAAD Ragi Flour is a part of AASHIRVAAD Nature’s Superfood Range and is a great Ragi flour option to have in your kitchen for all your baking whims. AASHIRVAAD Ragi Flour is made from pure whole Ragi which is sourced right from Indian fields.
Using AASHIRVAAD Ragi Flour will easily increase the nutrient content of every dish that you make while keeping the taste the same. Since Ragi flour is a versatile flour, it can be easily used to make all kinds of baked goods; the sky is the limit!