In all honesty, I hadn’t really heard of Ragi flour (finger-millet flour) while growing up. I am not sure if my grandmom managed to surreptitiously put it in my meals, but I think it’s not a common flour in the Bengali household. It is mainly found in the state of Karnataka, but funnily the origin of finger-millet was in East Africa. How food travels!
Ragi doesn’t have some of the usual characteristics of the daily use flours, which might be a reason for its exclusion in many diets. However, reading about its benefits makes me wonder why it is so. Ragi is a rich source of *good* carbohydrates and proteins. It is gluten-free, which makes it difficult for baking but helps those who are gluten intolerant. It also always a great non-dairy source of calcium (any vegans here?) and iron. Moreover, it’s packed with dietary fiber which will help you to eat less and sh#t more.
Now if I have convinced you that these Ragi Almond laddoos are worth your time, move on.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 cup ragi (finger millet) flour
- 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/3 cup jaggery powder
- 5 tbsp melted ghee
- 1 tsp ground green cardamom
INSTRUCTIONS:
Step 1
Dry roasting ragi flour brings out the nutty flavor in it. So take a heavy-bottom pan and dry roast the ragi flour over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. You’ll soon to be see the pale pinkish tinge turn darker.
Step 2
Time for the calories! Add in the melted ghee, one tablespoon at a time as you go on mixing. Pour in the almond flour as well and keep stirring the mixture continuously at medium-low heat. The addition of the almond flour increases the nuttiness and gives it a coarser texture. The color turns darker into almost a shade of brown and you’ll get a familar aroma of the ghee getting incorporated.
Step 3
As the flours begin to come together, turn off the heat and transfer the mixture to a bowl. At this point, it should be sticky enough to make round balls. But before you proceed to do that, add in jaggery and cardmamom powder (can be obtained by simply grounding the green cardamoms). Mix everything well with a spoon.
Step 4
While the mixture is still warm, start giving them the shape of ladoos. If the mixture starts to fall apart, add in some more melted ghee. You are allowed to enjoy the mixture at this point. But for best results, wait till the ladoos cool down.
Ab kuch meetha ho jaye? (Let’s have something sweet?)