Dearies of sinfully-desilicious, any guess on this month’s theme, 🤔🤔😉? Next to my last week post ‘Tirunelveli’ Sodhi, comes this week ‘Theni’ koottusaaru, hope you must have inferred the theme, yes, I can hear you, it’s Tamilnadu district’s native special but with an interesting twist, districts which start with ‘T’…sounds impressive…😍😍?
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I made Kelvaragu kali to pair with Koottusaaru/ koottuthanni of Theni district. This gravy is a 2 in 1 recipe from the Theni region of Tamilnadu, very handy and efficient. (check the hyperlink for the recipe).
Kelvaragu Kali/Ragi Mudde/Finger millet Balls are simple but healthy food for diligent and hardworking farmers. You can make this recipe as a combo that complements each other –
1) Kelvaragu Kali/Ragi Mudde/Finger millet Balls – a power-packed main course made from small millet.
2) Koottusaaru/ koottuthanni – simple and subtle gravy made from greens cooked water
3) Keerai/ greens poriyal – a dry side dish made from strained greens.
Ragi, Kelvaragu in Tamil, and Fingermillet in English belong to small millet family. It’s invariably used across Tamilnadu, Andhra, Karnataka rural areas as a farmer’s diet. It’s a powerhouse of nutrients thus revealing its significance amongst the farmers’ community. It has an array of health benefits-
1) It’s vegan, gluten-free, also a good source of non-dairy Calcium.
2) It has a low glycaemic index which makes it the perfect food for diabetic people whose blood sugar level is well maintained in range by reducing their food cravings and keeping their digestion in pace.
3) Since it’s rich in fibre, it aids in reducing weight making it an impeccable diet for people on weight loss.
4) It’s rich in essential amino acids and antioxidants.
5) Also, a power-house of Iron, best diet for Anaemic patients.
6) And benefits lactating and pregnant women due to its high mineral and vitamin contents.
No wonder why it’s a friendly recipe for farmers who do laborious work on day-to-day basis, it acts as an energy booster for them.
What is kali/mudde? – it’s a porridge kind of preparation made with grains, millets. The preparation varies from region to region. In general, it’s cooked with water and beaten well to form a solid mass which is rolled into balls and served when it’s hot. It is eaten with any spicy curry veg or non-veg, as kali is a bland food and has no specific taste. In Tamil Nadu, it’s mostly consumed during summer, for it acts as a body coolant. The porridge is diluted with water and buttermilk, topped with finely chopped onions or keerai poriyal, the best summer coolant.
This porridge may not be a high preference for kids due to its bland taste. As a parent don’t ditch hope if they are not liking it as a porridge, slowly you can feed them with the summer coolants, which was my favourite when I was a kid. Gradually, they’ll develop the taste for it and include it as a regular diet. Touchwood, my teens had an inclination to it right from their first consumption, which made my life easy.
As I mentioned early, here I prepared the porridge in 2 methods. One method was taught to me by my MIL, Mrs.Manonmani, and my cousin Parimala, both from Erode.
Other methods, I would like to credit my Dubai friend, Jaya, who’s from Rayalseema (hope I spelled it correctly, Jaya…😉🤣). She was so sweet to share her family and foolproof recipe with me. She also guided me patiently which helped me to achieve the right texture and consistency in my first attempt itself…. 🥰😘.
It’s also prevalently consumed in Andhra and known as Ragi mudda or Ragi sangati and Ragi mudde in Karnataka.
Hope you had a deep insight of this dish and its ingredient as well, now let’s jump into the preparation.
Method 1
Sieve the Ragi Flour to ensure a smooth texture. I used store-bought, you can also prepare it at home from scratch with whole Ragi seeds or sprouted ones.
Take a thick bottomed pan or a non-stick pot with 2 cups of water, bring it to a rolling boil by closing the lid for a minute in high flame.
Once, it reaches the rolling boil stage, reduce to medium flame, and add samba wheat and salt and close it for a couple of minutes.
Parallelly, boil 1 cup of water in another pan or any utensil, we will be using it in 3 portions later. Now open the lid, reduce to low flame, add first a tbsp of flour from 1 cup, combine well.
Then immediately add the remaining flour.
Stir and beat it vigorously and consistently to form a uniform sticky mass which will take roughly 5 minutes and make sure no lump or uncooked flour is present. I used a flat wooden spatula which aids to break the lumps. In India, we have a special ladle which we call Thuduppu in Tamil Nadu, Sangati Katta in Andhra, and mudde kolu in Karnataka, a long, flat, or cylindrical wooden spatula meant for this preparation.
Now gradually add that 1/3rd cup of hot water, combine well to the flour, close, and cook it for 2 mins in completely low flame.
Now again add the next 1/3rd cup of hot water, combine well to the flour.
Close and cook it for another 2 mins in completely low flame.
Finally, add the last 1/3rd cup of hot water, combine well to the flour.
Close and cook it for 2 more mins on completely low flame.
Then add 1 tsp of ghee, mix well.
It starts to solidify as a single mass, finally close it and cook in its steam for last 5 mins.
After the given time, open the lid and conduct the sticky test. Take a bowl of water, wet your four fingers completely and touch the solid mass, nothing should stick to your fingers (not even a small crumb), wetting your fingers properly is mandatory. This ensures your kali/mudde is cooked thoroughly.
Grease a round, deep bowl with ghee or vegan butter, scoop a small portion of hot kali.
And start swirling it quickly and firmly which shapes into a perfect ball within few seconds.
Similarly prepare balls with the remaining kali. Serve hot with Theni native special Koottusaaru/ koottuthanni , Keerai/ greens poriyal, Gongura Chicken, Chinthamani chicken, Chicken varathurachathu, Kori ghassi.
Method 2
Sieve the Ragi Flour to ensure a smooth ball. I used store-bought, you can also prepare it at home from scratch with whole Ragi seeds or sprouted ones.
Prepare a slurry with 1 cup of Kelvarugu/Ragi flour and ¾ cup water.
Bring 2 cups of water to a rolling boil in a thick-bottomed or non-stick pan with the lid closed.
Now open the lid, reduce the flame to medium, add the cooked rice and salt. Close it and cook for a couple of minutes.
Now open the lid, completely reduce to low flame, add ghee or vegan butter.
Then immediately add the prepared slurry.
Stir and beat it vigorously and consistently.
It forms a uniform sticky mass which will take roughly 5 minutes and make sure no lump or uncooked flour is present.
I used a flat wooden spatula which aids to break the lumps. In India, we have a special ladle which we call Thuduppu in Tamil Nadu, Sangati Katta in Andhra, and Mudde Kolu in Karnataka, a long, flat, or cylindrical wooden spatula meant for this preparation. Later close and cook for another 5 mins, maintaining the same low flame.
Finally, open and cook for another 2 mins.
Then add ¼ tsp ghee and combine well.
It starts solidifying as a single mass without sticking to the bottom.
Now conduct the sticky test. Take a bowl of water, wet your four fingers completely and touch the solid mass.
Nothing should stick to your fingers (not even a small crumb), wetting your fingers properly is mandatory. This ensures your kali/mudde is cooked thoroughly.
Now switch off the flame, close it and let it rest for a minute.
Grease a round, deep bowl with ghee or vegan butter, scoop a small portion of hot kali and start swirling it quickly and firmly which shapes into a perfect ball within few seconds.
Similarly prepare balls with the remaining kali. Serve hot with Theni native specialKoottusaaru/ koottuthanni , Keerai/ greens poriyal.
Also with Gongura Chicken, Chinthamani chicken, Chicken varathurachathu, Kori ghassi.
Recipe card
Preparation time: 1 minute
Cooking time: 20-23 minutes
Cuisine: Indian, South
Category: Rice and Breads
Serves: 4
Author: Manimala
Ingredients:
Method 1
Finger millet/Kelvaragu/Ragi – 1 cup (heaped)
Samba wheat – 2 tbsp (optional)
Salt – ½ tsp (optional)
Ghee/vegan butter – 1 tsp (optional)
Water – 2 + 1 cup
Method 2
Finger millet/Kelvaragu/Ragi – 1 cup
Cooked rice – ¼ cup (optional)
Salt – ½ tsp (optional)
Ghee/vegan butter – 1 ½ + ¼ tsp (optional)
Water – 2 + ¾ cup
Instructions:
Method 1
- Sieve the Ragi Flour to ensure a smooth texture. I used store-bought, you can also prepare it at home from scratch with whole Ragi seeds or sprouted ones.
- Take a thick bottomed pan or a non-stick pot with 2 cups of water, bring it to a rolling boil by closing the lid for a minute in high flame.
- Once, it reaches the rolling boil stage, reduce to medium flame, and add samba wheat and salt and close it for a couple of minutes.
- Parallelly, boil 1 cup of water in another pan or any utensil, we will be using it in 3 portions later.
- Now open the lid, reduce to low flame, add first a tbsp of flour from 1 cup, combine well, then immediately add the remaining flour. Stir and beat it vigorously and consistently to form a uniform sticky mass which will take roughly 5 minutes and make sure no lump or uncooked flour is present.
- I used a flat wooden spatula which aids to break the lumps. In India, we have a special ladle which we call Thuduppu in Tamil Nadu, Sangati Katta in Andhra, and mudde kolu in Karnataka, a long, flat, or cylindrical wooden spatula meant for this preparation.
- Now gradually add that 1/3rd cup of hot water, combine well to the flour, close, and cook it for 2 mins in completely low flame.
- Now again add the next 1/3rd cup of hot water, combine well to the flour, close and cook it for another 2 mins in completely low flame.
- Finally, add the last 1/3rd cup of hot water, combine well to the flour, close and cook it for 2 more mins on completely low flame.
- Then add 1 tsp of ghee, mix well, it starts to solidify as a single mass, finally close it and cook in its steam for last 5 mins.
- After the given time, open the lid and conduct the sticky test. Take a bowl of water, wet your four fingers completely and touch the solid mass, nothing should stick to your fingers (not even a small crumb), wetting your fingers properly is mandatory. This ensures your kali/mudde is cooked thoroughly.
- Grease a round, deep bowl with ghee or vegan butter, scoop a small portion of hot kali and start swirling it quickly and firmly which shapes into a perfect ball within few seconds.
- Similarly prepare balls with the remaining kali. Serve hot with Theni native special Koottusaaru/ koottuthanni , Keerai/ greens poriyal, Gongura Chicken, Chinthamani chicken, Chicken varathurachathu, Kori ghassi.
Method 2
- Sieve the Ragi Flour to ensure a smooth ball. I used store-bought, you can also prepare it at home from scratch with whole Ragi seeds or sprouted ones.
- Prepare a slurry with 1 cup of Kelvarugu/Ragi flour and ¾ cup water.
- Bring 2 cups of water to a rolling boil in a thick-bottomed or non-stick pan with the lid closed.
- Now open the lid, reduce the flame to medium, add the cooked rice and salt. Close it and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Now open the lid, completely reduce to low flame, add ghee or vegan butter, then immediately add the prepared slurry. Stir and beat it vigorously and consistently to form a uniform sticky mass which will take roughly 5 minutes and make sure no lump or uncooked flour is present.
- I used a flat wooden spatula which aids to break the lumps. In India, we have a special ladle which we call Thuduppu in Tamil Nadu, Sangati Katta in Andhra, and Mudde Kolu in Karnataka, a long, flat, or cylindrical wooden spatula meant for this preparation.
- Later close and cook for another 5 mins, maintaining the same low flame.
- Finally, open and cook for another 2 mins.
- Then add ¼ tsp ghee and combine well, it starts solidifying as a single mass without sticking to the bottom.
- Now conduct the sticky test. Take a bowl of water, wet your four fingers completely and touch the solid mass, nothing should stick to your fingers (not even a small crumb), wetting your fingers properly is mandatory. This ensures your kali/mudde is cooked thoroughly.
- Now switch off the flame, close it and let it rest for a minute.
- Grease a round, deep bowl with ghee or vegan butter, scoop a small portion of hot kali and start swirling it quickly and firmly which shapes into a perfect ball within few seconds.
- Similarly prepare balls with the remaining kali. Serve hot with Theni native special Koottusaaru/ koottuthanni , Keerai/ greens poriyal, Gongura Chicken, Chinthamani chicken, Chicken varathurachathu, Kori ghassi.
Notes:
- The first and foremost skill you need to prepare this porridge is patience and good handwork, not kidding…😄😄, though the recipe sounds simple, the success lies in this technique…😉.
- Stirring is pivotal as failing it will result in an uncooked portion or lump which is not fit to consume as it’ll end up in indigestion.
- Sieving the flour helps to achieve a smooth finish to the ball.
- Adding Samba wheat or cooked rice and salt is purely optional. You can skip adding it and directly add the flour or slurry according to the method you follow.
- Similarly, adding ghee/vegan butter too, is optional. Adding them helps in achieving a glossy finish to the ball.
- Conducting a sticky test reconfirms that your kali/ mudde/sangati is cooked well. Make sure you touch the kali only with your wet portion of your fingers, as kali will tend to stick to the un-wet portion of your finger.
- While making balls, kali/mudde has to be hot. Also, instead of swirling the ball in a greased bowl, you can wet your hands and make balls if you can tolerate the heat.
- A total cooking time of 20-22 minutes is fair enough for the Ragi to cook thoroughly.
- Maintaining the flame between high to medium to low at different stages is crucial for the complete cooking of Ragi.
- If you follow the instructions to the tee, you’ll not fail even if you are a newbie.
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