Ragi halwa recipe – Ragi or red millet is one of the most used grain in my home. We make ragi mudde, ragi rotti, ragi dosa, ragi idli and most commonly ragi porridge and ladoos. I mostly use sprouted ragi flour which I get from my mum’s home in India. Though ragi halwa recipe was requested by many readers for their toddlers and babies, I had not shared one since it requires more of sweetener and ghee which may not be good to feed babies regularly. So I had just shared this Ragi porridge and this Apple ragi halwa.
I made this ragi halwa sometime back for the kids after school snack. This is the traditional recipe of making ragi halwa using jaggery in our parts of karnataka and andhra pradesh. It is made similar to the ragi mudde, so there is a bit of arm work to make this perfectly soft, mouth melting and delicious. It is good to make this in small quantity since with more quantity the stirring part becomes hard.
This ragi halwa recipe is actually made without milk in our home but I have used it this time. I have used 1.5 cups milk and 1 cup water. You can replace milk with water.
For more halwa recipes, you can check
Carrot halwa
Suji halwa
Moong dal halwa
Banana sheera
Ragi halwa recipe
Ragi halwa recipe | How to make ragi halwa | Ragi recipes
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- 1 cup ragi flour / nachni
- 2 ½ cups milk & water (any ratio or only water)
- ½ cup jaggery grated or organic sugar
- ½ cup water for jaggery (skip if using sugar)
- ¼ tsp green cardamom powder / elaichi
- 4 tbsps ghee
- 8 to 10 cashew nuts
How to make the recipe
- On a low flame melt jaggery with ½ cup water and set aside. Do not boil it, just stir well until it dissolves. Set this aside.
- Add 3 tbsp ghee to a pot and fry cashews until golden. Set them aside.
- Add the flour to the hot ghee and roast well on a low flame for 3 to 4 minutes stirring continuously.
- Make sure there are no lumps in the flour and the ghee must coat the flour well.
- Switch off the stove, add milk & water to the flour. Stir continuously to make the mixture lump free and smooth. This takes some time. Add cardamom powder and begin to cook on a low heat until the water is almost absorbed.
- The flour turns sticky, add 1 tbsp of ghee and mix well.
- Cook until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. It turns to a mass at this stage.
- Keep the flame low and filter the jaggery syrup. If using sugar you add it now. Stir well until the jaggery blends well in the ragi halwa. Cook until the halwa leaves the sides of the pan. Since we have not used much ghee here, you may not see the ghee separating.
- Cover and switch off the stove. Allow the halwa to cook further in the pan for atleast 10 minutes for complete cooking.
- if desired you can add another tbsp of ghee and garnish ragi halwa with nuts.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
If you are a beginner or new to Indian cooking, I highly suggest you to check the supporting step by step photos for best results. Step by step photos with description available below after the recipe card.
How to make ragi halwa recipe
1. Add grated jaggery to a pot along with ½ cup water.
2. Stir and melt it on a low heat until completely dissolved.
3. Add 3 tbsp ghee to a hot pot and fry cashews until they turn golden. Transfer them to a plate.
4. To the same ghee pot, add flour and begin to saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir often to prevent lumps.
5. Make sure the ghee coats the flour well otherwise the halwa will turn grainy or lumpy. Switch off the stove.
6. Mix together milk and water (cold or at room temperature). Then pour slowly to the pot stirring well to break up lumps.
7. Stir it well mix it or whisk it well to make the mixture smooth. This step does take some time but yields a very good ragi halwa. Add cardamom powder and begin to cook on a very low heat. Do not begin to cook until the mixture is smooth and lump free.
8. After few minutes the moisture gets absorbed and the dough sticks up to the pan. Add the rest of 1 tbs ghee and mix well.
9. Cook until the mixture becomes a mass and leaves the sides of the pan.
10. Filter the jaggery syrup to the pan and stir well. It does take sometime here as well to blend the jaggery well with the mixture.
11. Continue cooking until the ragi halwa leaves the pan. Add one more tbsp of ghee if you wish. If you make this in a nonstick pan, the mixture leaves the pan very well when it is fully done. Switch off the stove. Cover and allow to rest in the pan for 10 minutes. Grease a bowl generously with ghee and scoop in some ragi halwa. Invert it to a plate and gently shake off.
Garnish ragi halwa with cashews.
Divya Chugh says
V nice & healthy recipe
Thanks
swasthi says
Welcome Divya