Finger millet/Ragi is too nutritious and when it is soaked & sprouted, the nutrition is doubled. It takes a week’s time to prepare this. But, you will feel so much contented after preparing this. Once the powder is ready, every week you can feed nutritious sprouted ragi porridge(link) using this homemade, healthy powder to your little ones.
- Finger Millets/Ragi - 2 cups or ½ kg
- Take whole ragi/finger millet and put it on one side of a wide plate. Move the millets to the other side little by little, thereby picking the specks(other objects), if any. Throw away the specks. If the plate is small, you shall do this in batches and once done, transfer each batch to another bowl.
- Take the cleaned(specks-picked) ragi to a bowl, pour water and rub it well with fingers. Gently, pour the water down. Some millets on the top will go away with water and that's ok. Again, wash well with fresh water.
- Wash 4 to 5 times until the water is clear as shown in below pic. Soak the millet with more water. Keep it covered with a breathable cotton cloth. Do not close with steel lid as it might stink(smell bad) without air. I soaked on a Wednesday morning. Let it soak for 1 day and 1 night. I changed water on Wednesday night.
- After 24 hours of soaking(For me it's on Thursday morning), wash again twice or thrice until water is clear.
- Take a colander and put a cotton cloth(preferable netted one) over it. Drain the water and transfer the millet to the cloth. Do not pour into it with water.
- Hold the corners of the cloth and squeeze out the excess water as shown in pic. Bring 2 corners of the cloth together and tie it tightly.
- Again take 2 corners of the cloth and tie again tightly. Let the potli be in the colander itself. Close the colander with a bowl upside down to create darkness, but still aeration will be there via colander holes. Keep the colander in a dark place(out of sunlight) for 2 days. Alternately, you can hang it in a dark room just I did in my sathu maavu recipe.
- After 2 days(For me it's on Saturday morning), open the potli. Ragi has sprouted well. But, in India, the sprouts will be longer as you can see in my sathumaavu post.
- Spread the sprouted millets in wide plate/thaambaalam. If you don't have big wide plates, use 2 or 3 plates. Don't crowd the millets. Spread to thin layer so that it dries properly. You can sundry for 2 days or just dry under fan for 3 days. If you keep out in sun, keep the plates covered with cotton cloth to avoid dusts and pests. Sun can easily penetrate through the cloth.
- I just had some sunlight for 1 day. Next day it was too windy and so I kept near window sun for sometime. Rest all time, I just kept it open on my dining table and it was air-dried. I dried it for 3 days. After 3 days(For me it's on Tuesday morning), dry roast for 3 to 4 mins in low flame.
- Transfer the roasted millets to a wide plate. Let it cool down completely. You can send it to mill for grinding. For grinding in mixie, you have 2 choices. Either grind in batches with at least half an hour to one hour gap between each batch. Or transfer the millets to an air-tight container and refrigerate it for 3 to 4 hours and then grind the cool millets in mixie to avoid over-heating and blade-breaking. I just ground in 3 batches with an hour gap between each batch.
- Grind to powder. You can sieve, collect the bigger particles settled in sieve and grind again for more fine powder. I didn't sieve as my baby doesn't like silky smooth porridges. Transfer the powder to big plate and cool down completely. Then, transfer to air-tight container and keep refrigerated for longer shelf-life. It stays good for 3 months without refrigeration and 6 months with refrigeration.
2.Do not fry ragi for longer time as it will diminish the nutrients.
3.Do not skip frying ragi as frying will avoid raw smell in the porridge.
4.For milder sprouts, just one day of sprouting is enough.
5.To make plain ragi flour, you can skip soaking and sprouting. Just wash the millets, dry it completely and grind.
6.If you are in cold countries, do not make this in winter as it might stink & higher possibilities of fungus-attacks while sprouting or drying.
Preparation – How to make sprouted Ragi flour at home?
1.Take whole ragi/finger millet and put it on one side of a wide plate. Move the millets to the other side little by little, thereby picking the specks(other objects), if any. Throw away the specks. If the plate is small, you shall do this in batches and once done, transfer each batch to another bowl.
2.Take the cleaned(specks-picked) ragi to a bowl, pour water and rub it well with fingers. Gently, pour the water down. Some millets on the top will go away with water and that’s ok. Again, wash well with fresh water.
3.Wash 4 to 5 times until the water is clear as shown in below pic. Soak the millet with more water. Keep it covered with a breathable cotton cloth. Do not close with steel lid as it might stink(smell bad) without air. I soaked on a Wednesday morning. Let it soak for 1 day and 1 night. I changed water on Wednesday night.
4.After 24 hours of soaking(For me it’s on Thursday morning), wash again twice or thrice until water is clear.
5.Take a colander and put a cotton cloth(preferable netted one) over it. Drain the water and transfer the millet to the cloth. Do not pour into it with water.
6.Hold the corners of the cloth and squeeze out the excess water as shown in pic. Bring 2 corners of the cloth together and tie it tightly.
7.Again take 2 corners of the cloth and tie again tightly. Let the potli be in the colander itself. Close the colander with a bowl upside down to create darkness, but still aeration will be there via colander holes. Keep the colander in a dark place(out of sunlight) for 2 days. Alternately, you can hang it in a dark room just I did in my sathu maavu recipe(click here for link).
8.After 2 days(For me it’s on Saturday morning), open the potli. Ragi has sprouted well. But, in India, the sprouts will be longer as you can see in my sathumaavu post.
9.Spread the sprouted millets in wide plate/thaambaalam. If you don’t have big wide plates, use 2 or 3 plates. Don’t crowd the millets. Spread to thin layer so that it dries properly. You can sundry for 2 days or just dry under fan for 3 days. If you keep out in sun, keep the plates covered with cotton cloth to avoid dusts and pests. Sun can easily penetrate through the cloth.
10.I just had some sunlight for 1 day. Next day it was too windy and so I kept near window sun for sometime. Rest all time, I just kept it open on my dining table and it was air-dried. I dried it for 3 days. After 3 days(For me it’s on Tuesday morning), dry roast for 3 to 4 mins in low flame.
11.Transfer the roasted millets to a wide plate. Let it cool down completely. You can send it to mill for grinding. For grinding in mixie, you have 2 choices. Either grind in batches with at least half an hour to one hour gap between each batch. Or transfer the millets to an air-tight container and refrigerate it for 3 to 4 hours and then grind the cool millets in mixie to avoid over-heating and blade-breaking. I just ground in 3 batches with an hour gap between each batch.
12.Grind to powder. You can sieve, collect the bigger particles settled in sieve and grind again for more fine powder. I didn’t sieve as my baby doesn’t like silky smooth porridges. Transfer the powder to big plate and cool down completely. Then, transfer to air-tight container and keep refrigerated for longer shelf-life. It stays good for 3 months without refrigeration and 6 months with refrigeration.
Homemade, healthy, sprouted Finger millet/Ragi powder is ready !! Scroll to read some tips and then click here to see how to make porridge using this?
Tips/Tricks in preparing sprouted Ragi flour at home
- If grinding in mixie, do not use more than 2 cups(1/2 kg) whole Ragi. Just for the wellness of the mixie motor.
- Do not fry ragi for longer time as it will diminish the nutrients.
- Do not skip frying ragi as frying will avoid raw smell in the porridge.
- For milder sprouts, just soak overnight & let it sprout for one day(&night), so that you shall dry in the morning.
- For quicker & much milder sprouts, just soak for 1 day and sprout for 1 night and start to dry in the morning.
- To make plain ragi flour, you can skip soaking and sprouting. Just wash the millets, dry it completely and grind.
- If you are in cold countries, do not make this in winter as it might stink & higher possibilities of fungus-attacks while sprouting or drying.
Nutritional Benefits
Finger Millet/Ragi– Calcium, Potassium, Iron, Protein, Fibre
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