Ragi and buckwheat (kuttu) porridge

Another healthy breakfast recipe, esp for cold winter mornings. This breakfast high in calcium and fibre and very filling.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup Ragi powder
2. 1/2 cup Buckwheat(kuttu) grains
3. 3 cups water
4. Jaggery
5. Milk (soya / almond / normal milk)
6. Nuts
7. Raisins

Method

1. Dry roast Ragi powder till it gets a roasted smell.
2. Add Buckwheat grains and roast for few more minutes.
3. Add water into the mix and boil it.
4. Add jaggery as per taste to get some sweetness into the mixture.
5. Boil slowly till you get the desired thickness.
6. Add milk, raisins and nuts before serving.

This porridge can be stored in the refrigerator easily 2-3 days.

Ragi Banana Chocolate Walnut Cake

I came across this recipe posted by a runner in one of the running magazines in India. Made it for the first time on Christmas Eve and it turned out to be much better than expected.

The cake uses all healthy ingredients  and can be made in vegetarian / vegan way.

Ingredients A:

• 1 cup ragi flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 2 level tea spoons baking powder

Mix the above and sieve all together.

Ingredients B:

• 1-1/4 cup jaggery powder (I used "bhoora" powder)
• 1 cup oil / melted butter
• 1 cup milk / smooth beaten curd / soy milk
• 3 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed (leftover over-ripe will also do just fine)
• 1 level tea spoon vanilla essence (optional, as the chocolate and bananas already lend plenty of flavour)
• 1 cup walnut (lightly crushed)

Mix the above with a wooden spoon stirring in one direction only. You can use a cake blender, if you use one. It should be well blended with no big lumps. The small lumps of jaggery (about the size of a wheat grain) are hard to avoid. But that’s fine. They will dissolve slowly or melt when baking and meld with the cake.

Fold ingredients A into ingredients B. By fold, we mean add the flour a spoonful at a time and gently incorporate it into the wet mixture using the side of your spoon while continuing to stir in one direction only. You will be maneuvering the spoon with your wrist.

When all the flour is incorporated, pour it into a baking mould of around 10 inches in diameter, lined with aluminium foil or butter paper at the base. (This is my no-fail way of ensuring cakes willingly slide out of their pans when done. You don’t need to oil the pan.)

Bake for about 40-45 minutes at 180 C. You know its done when a cake tester (or small knife) inserted into the cake comes out clean. If the tester still has liquid dough on it, let it bake for another 5-10 mins. Due to the mashed bananas, the cake will tend to have a moist texture, so the tester might not come out fully dry like traditional cakes, which is okay.
If using a microwave convection oven, you may need to grill it for about a minute to get the top of the cake fully cooked.

You can eat it hot or cold, separately or with vanilla ice-cream.

Enjoy!