Ragi Idly / Finger Millet Idly - With No Rice

Idly is an all time comfort food and especially when it comes to breakfast, I always prefer to make varieties of Idly / Dosa along with good chutneys or nice gravies like sambar, kurma, kadappa as accompaniment. Having heard about the health benefits of millets, I also want to include those nutritious millet in our day to day meal as much as I can. Though you all would have seen this ragi idly or even have tried it in your own way either with finger millets or using ragi flour, I wish to share the way I made in my kitchen with you.  I have been making these fluffy, delicious brown idlies for breakfast. Ragi idlies taste very good if they are made with the real ragi millet grains than ragi flour. 

Ingredients

Ragi Millet / Finger Millet - 2 cups
Urad Dal - 1 Cup
Poha / Aval - 1/2 cup
Fenugreek Seeds / Methi seeds - 2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Water - Enough to grind the batter

Preparation Process

• Wash and soak all the ingredients in a big vessel except fenugreek seeds. Soak the fenugreek seeds / methi seeds in a small cup with little water. Let it remain for 4 to 5 hours.
• After that, wash them well thoroughly and grind them together in a mixer grinder by adding little amount of water while grinding occasionally.
• Grind the batter to a smooth consistency. Store the batter in a large container so that there is enough space for the batter to ferment. Add required amount of salt to the ragi batter and mix it well.
• Store it in a warm place or nearer to a heat vent which speeds up the fermentation process.
• After good fermentation, mix the batter once or twice nicely. Now the batter is ready to make idlies.
• Coat the idly moulds with little sesame oil, pour the ragi idly batter over the moulds uniformly.
• Steam cook the Idly plates for 10 to 12 minutes. After few minutes, carefully open and scoop the ragi idlies out of the idly moulds. Serve the ragi idlies with either coconut chutney or tomato chutney and also with a cup of delicious sambar and enjoy!

Tips 

• Add enough water while grinding the batter and make sure that the batter is fermented well.
• If the batter is not fermented that good, add 1/4 tsp of baking soda and mix it well. Then you make the ragi idlies.
• If the batter is fermented well, then the batter will increase in volume and double up the size. In that scenario, the idlies would be softer and porous.