Ragi flour recipes | Ragi powder | Finger millet flour (Ragi recipes)
By Swasthi on August 1, 2022, Comments, Jump to Recipe
Ragi flour recipe or ragi powder recipe. Ragi in Kannada is known as finger millet in English, ragulu in telugu, kezhvaragu or keppai in tamil, nachani in marthi and gujarati, marwa in bengali & nepali, mandika in Hindi. In the recent years, this wonder grain gained popularity due to the high absorbable nutrients in them that are available at an affordable price. You can also check this detailed post on 18 ragi recipes which are healthy and delicious. In this post I will drive you through how to choose ragi to make finger millet flour or powder at home. This can be used for all including for babies, toddlers and kids’ porridge.
To make sprouted ragi flour at home, one needs lot of patience since it is quite a lot of work. The entire process of sprouting and making the flour takes around 3 days. But then the benefits are immense especially for babies and toddlers. Helps to gain good weight, stronger bones, stronger teeth and helps to prevents iron deficiency, if used correctly.
Here is a detailed post on how to introduce ragi to babies and also try this delicious apple ragi.
you can also check this detailed baby food chart for 6 months old babies.
you can also check this food chart for 8 months old babies.
Why the nutrients in ragi are easily absorbable?
Our body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium from food. Along with calcium there is also vitamin D in ragi, hence calcium from this little grain is absorbed better.
During the soaking and sprouting process, the levels of vitamin C increase, which helps to absorb iron content as well.
Why ragi is sprouted?
sprouting increases the overall nutritional values.
sprouted flour is easily digestible on sensitive tummies. It is highly recommended to use sprouted ragi flour for babies and toddlers.
Is sprouting ragi easy?
Sprouting might have been easy for some lucky folks. I have seen people sprouting them so easily hanging them in a window sill or just leaving them in a colander. But it isn’t easy always and they may not sprout at all. We have been successfully sprouting them by tying in a cloth and then moving it to a dark place.
Why did my ragi not sprout?
Finger millet is either from the recent harvest under 3 months old or is a very old stock or aged grains.
They do not sprout if not soaked enough.
Could be due to climatic conditions.
Note that wet season or rainy season may not be the right time to sprout and make the flour. finger millets tend to turn moldy especially in places like Bangalore during the wet season.
How to sprout ragi and make ragi flour or powder.
Ragi flour
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1 kg ragi / finger millet
- water as needed
Instructions
- Ensure millets are clean without any stones or debris. Wash them thoroughly under running water several times.
- Soak them in clear water for about 24 hours. Use a large pot to soak them well. Do not cover the pot, just tie a muslin cloth on the rim. This helps the grains not to turn moldy and smelly since air is circulated through the cloth. Place the pot in a good ventilated place like a window sill or in the veranda. Change the water every 8 hours.
- Rinse them well again. Drain them to a colander.
- Transfer to a washed sun dried clean cotton cloth. A white cloth is best. If using colored cloth make sure it doesn’t release any dye or color.
- Bring together all edges, make a very tight knot. The pack should look tight, this helps them to sprout well. Refer the picture above.
- Keep it in a steel pot. Cover partially and move it to a dark place for about 20 to 24 hours.
- They can sprout anywhere from an inch to 1 ½ inches long depending on climate and the quality of grains.
- Open the knot and loosen them, spread on a dry cloth.
There are 2 ways of dehydrating sprouted ragi
- one is to dry them in shade for 2 to 3 days in an airy place like a veranda. You will have to keep them inside the house uncovered in the night. This method needs no roasting, the sprouts turn crunchy by the end of second day during the hot days. Second method is to dry roast them on a tawa on a medium flame till they turn crunchy.
How to make ragi powder.
- If making for babies, making the flour at home is highly recommended. Refrigerate the roasted or dehydrated sprouts for about 2 hours and powder them in a blender jar in batches. Refrigerating helps to powder them well without the blender getting heated.
- You can send it to a flour mill as well. You can mill half a kg of rice first and then add finger millet to the mill. Collect the rice flour in a separate pot. Use a different pot to collect the ragi flour. This helps to prevent other flours (like wheat flour) from the mill getting mixed with finger millet flour. Since rice flour is safe for babies, even if it gets mixed its fine.
- flour is sieved usually to remove coarse particles. Some folks even sieve it using a thin muslin cloth, if the flour is for babies under 6 to 8 months. Sieving through a muslin cloth also helps to remove hard fiber particles which may cause stomach upset or throat irritation in few babies. But again this needs a lot of patience. You have a elder person like MIL or Mother at home to help you, then you can go for it.
- Store the flour in an tight jar glass or steel jar and refrigerate. If frozen it can be used up to a year.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills.
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Hi Swasthi,
I made this powder at home and when try making porridge using the powder, it does not thicken .
Was wondering if I did something wrong ?
Hi Sindhu,
If the porridge thickened and later turned runny, this is due to overcooking.
But if it hasn’t thickened at all, then I understand the flour isn’t fine enough. Also try with lesser water. Homemade unsprouted flour doesn’t require so much water. The recipes I have posted on the blog are mostly made with homemade sprouted ragi flour. If you have a instant pot, try pressure cooking (PIP) for 5 mins and manual release after 4 mins. 1 cup water for 4 tbsps flour. Hope this helps.
Very good fail proof recipes Swasthi. Thank you?
Welcome!
🙂
Hi Swasthi,
I am making ragi milk porridge daily for my baby. I soak the ragi seeds for 3-4 hours before extracting milk. Will the sprouted ragi flour porridge be more nutritious for the baby than the ragi milk porridge?
Thank you
Hi Syamili
Yes sprouted flour is more nutritious. We usually cook the extracted milk and feed for a month or so till the baby gets used to its taste and texture. The texture with extracted milk is much smoother. But with sprouted flour porridge is dense and the texture is not the same. Hope this helps
Hi Swati,
Thank you for the process, planning to try for my 7 month old baby.. I want to try in small batch so I don’t run out of millets In case it does turn out well.
You have mentioned cup measurement in the recipe.. is it used for any measurement. I am planning to use 1/4 kg so hoping it will yield 250 ml of flour.. pls advise. Thanks
Hi Hema
yes you can try with 1/4 kg. My mom says ragi won’t sprout well when tried in small quantities. Not sure though! But I have tried to sprout them myself in smaller quantities and they didn’t work out at all. You can give a try. If they don’t sprout then dry them and powder. It is still okay to use it for the baby. Hope this helps
Hi Swasthi
Love your page!
I live in Australia and love to follow your recipes.
I am trying to sprout Ragi for my 6.5 month old but it was a failed attempt. I soaked initially for 14 hours, wrapped in a damp cloth and then put it in heated oven ( as it is quite cold here). Then after 48 hours I checked your page- I soaked it again for another 12 hours and then tightly wrapped in a cloth and put it in the dark corner where the temperature is bit hot because of the heating but no sprouts till now. I checked my ragi grains. They are from 2019. What do you recommend I should do as I am really Keen on introducing ragi to my baby
Thanks
Swati
Hi Swati
Thank you! Sorry I think I am late in replying. It’s okay if they don’t sprout. Dry them and powder. Since they are soaked, they are still good to use as it avoids colic. Hope this helps.
Thanks
Can you pls tell us how long we can store this ragi powder in room temp and in the refrigerator? Thanks!
Hi Amritha
It depends on the weather conditions. If you live in a humid weather then it is good to refrigerate.
Hi Swasthi,
I followed your recipe up to the point where I have kept the Ragi for 24 hours for sprouting. But now only few hours left and there is no sprout at all. Can I still follow the remaining process of dehydrating and making a powder even if it is not sprouted? Or should I wait some more time to see if the sprout shows up? It is not smelling bad or mouldy but I don’t want to wait too long that the baby can not eat it anymore. Please suggest.
Hi Sneha
Sometimes it is just old stock of the grains or the weather conditions that hinder the growth of sprouts. So go ahead and dehydrate them and powder. Since the grains are soaked your baby can digest them well.
I don’t have a place where I can air dry it.. can we sun dry and use powder it..
Hi Harsha,
Yes you can sun dry it too. I usually air dry things like this on my dinning table. If the place is well ventilated and airy then it works well.
Hi, Swasthi Shreekanta,
I am Vidya Ramani here.
Fabulous and helpful.
I want, recipe to make phulka just with sprouted ragi flour.
I Will be very thankful if you can send the recipe.
Thanks in anticipation.
Vidya Ramani
Hi Vidya Ramani,
You are welcome. I am not sure if you can make phulka with sprouted flour. You can check this link for ragi roti
Thank you for your detail description.
Welcome Swarna
Can you make Ragi flour without soaking and sprouting
Hi Varsha,
Yes you can make. If you are making for a baby, then rinse them well. Dry completely in sun or shade then powder them.
Please include sprouted ragi pictures
Hi Usha,
I do not have them as of now. I can take the pictures during my next visit to India. Ragi doesn’t sprout well here in Singapore so my mom sprouts the ragi and gets it milled during my visits to India.
Love you dear,so helpful
Thank you so much Vaishalini!
Can I make chapattis with this flour
Yes you can make ragi chapati by using 1/2 cup atta and 1/2 cup ragi flour.
You are doing a great job…
Thanks Punitha
Hi can we use this powder for making cakes etc
Hi Annie,
You can check this cake recipe. Make sure the flour is very fine. We usually mill the sprouted grains so the flour is very much fine & goes well to make cakes otherwise the cake may break.
Hi Mam,
I have soaked Ragi in water for more than 30 hrs almost 2 days.. Actually it’s not intentionally done. Can u plz let me know how can I make use of this now.. Can dis b given to my 8 months baby. Shall I follow sprouting procedure or shall I’m just sun dry it and powder
I think the ragi would have turned smelly. If it is still good dry them and powder
Hi swasthi,
I like your recipes so much. What ever recipe I try from your website it’s a definite hit and more over you always cook healthy food. I want to try ragi ladoos for my kids. My elder kid is bit sensitive with the digestion , So I want to sprout them and make a flour. Is it ok to use dehydrator to dry the sprouted ragi?
Thanks
Hi Priya
Thank you so much. Yes you can dry the sprouts in dehydrator.
🙂
Hi madam ; my grandson is going to be six months old , I would like to start with solid food , what would you sugge
Hi Ma’am,
Yes you can start with fruits, vegetables or single grain like ragi or rice. Please take a look at this link here Baby food for 6 months. All the details are available there
Can I give packed ragi flour to my 9 months old baby.
Hi Supriya,
It is good to make homemade flour if you cannot then you use the packed one. It is very easy to make ragi flour at home. Wash ragi and dry on a cloth. If you cannot sun dry then roast them until crunchy. Cool and powder in the mixer jar. Sieve it. If you make 1 cup ragi flour it may last about 3 to 4 weeks.
hi mam,
can u pls explain the way of making ordinary ragi flour at home without sprouting….?
thnk u
Sunitha,
Just wash them very well and soak for 1 to 2 hours. Drain them and sun dry or air dry completely. Roast them and powder it.