Finger millet porridge is known as ragi malt, ragi java or ragi porridge. It is a nutritious and healthy beverage made with ragi flour, water or milk & a sweetener. Instructions for stovetop & Instant pot.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 1 minutes
  • Cook time: 5 minutes
  • Total time: 6 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoon ragi flour ((¼ cup) finger millet flour)
  • 1 ½ tablespoon sugar (or jaggery or or dates)
  • 1½ cups Water
  • 1 cup Milk ((optional))
  • 4 drops ghee ((optional))
  • ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder ((optional))
  • 6 almonds (or cashews or dry fruits powder ptional))
  • 4 tbsp finger millet ((¼ cup) Ragi flour)
  • Salt (to taste)
  • 1½ cup Water
  • 1 cup Buttermilk ((use as needed))
  • 1 tsp Oil (or ghee as needed)
  • 1 pinch Cumin
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves
  • 1 tbsp Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
  • 1 Green chili (chopped)

Method

For sweet ragi malt

  1. Method 1 - Mix together ragi flour and water in a pan.
  2. Mix well to ensure there are no lumps.
  3. Begin to cook this on a low to medium flame, stirring constantly to prevent burning and lumps.
  4. Method 2 - Add ragi flour to a bowl and mix with ¾ cup water. Bring the other ¾ cup water to a rolling boil and then pour this ragi flour mixture. Keep stirring and cook on a medium heat.
  5. After few minutes, you can see ragi malt turns to a glossy thick consistency. You can switch off the heat.
  6. Add sugar/ jaggery and pour more milk as desired to bring it to the consistency.
  7. You can also add a tbsp of almond or dry fruits powder. Add some ghee as well.

For salted ragi java

  1. Mix water and flour in a pan and cook until the mixture looks thick and glossy. Cool this completely.
  2. Then add salt and buttermilk.
  3. If you do not prefer to season it can be consumed by just adding salt & buttermilk.
  4. For seasoning, heat a pan with oil or ghee. Add curry leaves and cumin, when they splutter, off the heat. Add coriander leaves and pour this to the ragi. Stir and consume ragi java.

Instant pot ragi malt

  1. Stir together 4 tablespoons ragi flour with 2 cups water in a large bowl until you see no lumps. Pour 1 cup water to your steel insert of the Instant pot.
  2. Then place the bowl of ragi mixture on the trivet inside your IP. Secure the Instant pot with the lid.
  3. Position the steam release vent to sealing. Press PRESSURE COOK button and set the timer to 5 mins.
  4. Let the pressure release naturally for about 10 minutes. Slowly and gently release the rest of the pressure.
  5. After you open the lid, you may see lumps of ragi. These are just soft balls and will dissolve when you stir them with a ladle. Also adding jaggery or sugar to hot ragi at this stage helps to dissolve them faster.
  6. Give a good mix after adding the sweetener. If you prefer milk pour pre-boiled milk. You can make it thin or thick to suit your preference.
  7. To make the savory version, follow the tempering I mentioned above.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.