Ragi kozhukattai is a healthy, delicious, sweet stuffed dumpling made with coconut and jaggery. This makes a very good breakfast option or it could be made as an evening snack for toddlers, kids and even adults.
As we all know, ragi is rich in nutrients and lots of dishes are prepared in South India using this finger millet. It is very rich in calcium when compared to other cereals. In some of my earlier posts like ragi semiya upma, ragi laddoo, ragi semiya payasam…..I have mentioned the benefits of ragi. So, I am not getting into those details….
Now, for the preparation of ragi kozhukattai….
Ingredients
For the kozhukattai
- 1 cup Ragi flour
- 2-4 tbsps. Jaggery, grated
- 1 ¼ cups Water
- 1 cup Milk
- ¼ tsp. Cardamom powder
- 3 tbsps. Ghee
For the stuffing
- 1 cup Coconut, desiccated or grated
- 1-2 tbsps. Sesame seeds, roasted
- ½ cup Jaggery, grated
- ¼ tsp. Cardamom powder
Method
- Melt jaggery with 2-4 tablespoons of water in a pan and keep aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a pan. Add ragi flour to the pan and roast it on a low heat for about 3-4 minutes. Keep stirring continuously, so that you do not burn the flour. There must be no lumps in the flour, it should be coated well with ghee.
- Switch off the flame. Pour milk and water to the flour and keep stirring continuously to prevent formation of lumps.
- Add cardamom powder. Again turn on the flame and start cooking on a low flame.
- Add 1 tablespoon of ghee and the melted jaggery syrup to it and stir well. Cook until the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan and forms a mass.
- Cover and switch off the flame. Allow it to cook in the heat for another 10 minutes.
- Cool the mixture just enough so that you can knead it to a smooth dough.
To prepare the stuffing
- Add coconut to the grated jaggery along with cardamom powder.
- To this mix, add sesame seeds and keep aside.
To make the kozhukattai
- Make a lemon sized ball of the ragi dough.
- Make a hole in the centre of the ball and put the stuffing mixture into it.
- Seal the ball after stuffing. Repeat this procedure for all of the dough.
- Steam the kozhukattai in a steamer just for 5 minutes.
- Serve hot or cold ragi kozhukattai.