Is Ragi Millet an Excellent Addition to Your Baby's Diet?

Here we have listed a few delicious recipes made with ragi flour for babies' healthy diet but as well super-healthy for young kids and adults.

You can introduce ragi flour for babies in various ways. You can either make a ragi malt or ragi porridge. These are super easy to cook and are delicious too.

TIP: For the best qulaity Ragi Flour, checkout 24Mantra Organaic Ragi flour, because this is EU Organic Certified which means it is free from harmful pesticides. Also, 24Mantra Organic Ragi flour is Gluten Free.

Ragi Porridge

Ragi porridge is a great idea for babies and infants, especially when they're weaning off of milk and onto other foods. It's also a popular breakfast choice in India, so it's an easy way to introduce Indian flavors to your little one's diet.

Ragi porridge is very simple to make: Just boil milk, add an equal amount of ragi flakes, stir until the mixture thickens, and you're done! It can be eaten warm or cold with sugar, honey or even cinnamon sprinkled on top. Checkout 24Mantra Organic Ragi Flakes for a heatlhy breakfast.

Note: This porridge can cause constipation if fed in excess,

Ragi Malt

Ragi malt is a popular recipe made by roasting ragi flour and adding milk to it. Ragi malt is known as finger millet which is a very good source of calcium and iron. It also helps to reduce fever and other infections in children. It also helps to boost immunity power, provides energy, and helps to gain weight in children. You can prepare a delicious ragi flour recipe with various ingredients like jaggery, water, curd or milk at home easily. Checkout 24Mantra Organic Ragi Malt mix here. 

Ragi Dosa

Dosa prepared from ragi flour is very healthy food for children as well as adults too. You can add different types of vegetables to make it more nutritious and tasty. 

Ingredients:

1 cup ragi flour

½ cup wheat flour

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 green chilli (finely chopped)

2 tbsp grated carrot

salt to taste

1 tsp coriander leaves (finely chopped)

water as required

Oil for preparing dosas

Making Ragi Dosa:

Heat a tawa and grease it with a little oil. Pour some batter on the tawa, spread it in a circle and drizzle some oil around the edges of the dosa. Let it cook on medium flame until light brown at the bottom. Fold dosa in half, serve hot with any chutney or sambhar of your choice.

You can also make a multi-grain dosa by mixing ragi flour with whole wheat flour, urad dal, rice and ajwain seeds. For an ready made Millet Dosa mix, checkout our 24Mantra Organic Multigrain Millet Dosa mix. 

Ragi Idli:

Ragi Idli is made by mixing two cups of ragi flour with half a cup of urad dal and an equal quantity of rice powder. The mixture is left overnight to ferment and then made into idlis by steaming them in an Idli cooker or steamer.

Ragi Laddus (Indian):

If you've never tried a laddus, you're missing out. Pronounced as la-DOO, Ragi Laddus are very simple to make! Here are the ingredients:

· 2 cups of ragi flour

· 1 cup of jaggery (or brown sugar)

· 2 tablespoons ghee

Mix together two cups of ragi with one cup of jaggery. Add ghee (clarified butter).

Combine all three ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Heat over medium-low heat until it becomes sticky. Remove from heat and form into small balls while still warm; cool before serving.

Ragi Pancake:

This particular dish can be prepared by mixing one cup of ragi flour along with two eggs and a cup of milk. The mixture is then heated on a pan till it gets cooked thoroughly. A bit of honey can be added to this dish for sweetness.

Ragi Halwa:

You need to cook powdered ragi in ghee and add jaggery or palm jaggery along with dry fruits to prepare this dish. This particular preparation tastes great and is highly nutritious too.

This gluten-free, vegan and nut-free 5-minute ragi halwa is the perfect quick dessert for people who are on the go.

What you'll need:

• 1 cup ragi flour
• 2 cups almond milk (you can use regular milk)
• 2 tbsp ghee (you can use coconut oil if you want to make this vegan)
• 3 tbsp sugar (omit if you are using sweetened almond milk)
• A pinch of nutmeg powder and cardamom powder
• A handful of cashews, almonds and raisins for garnish

Roast ragi flour with ghee in a pan/ kadhai at medium heat till it becomes slightly brown. Add sugar and keep roasting until the mixture becomes golden brown. Add milk and let the mixture cook till a thick consistency. Add nutmeg and cardamom powder, garnish with cashews, almonds and raisins and serve warm.

Ragi Semiya Upma

This is a traditional South Indian dish made from vermicelli noodles cooked with ragi flour. You can add vegetables like peas, carrots and cauliflower to increase the nutritional value of this dish.

This mouth-watering dish is a traditional South Indian recipe made from vermicelli noodles with spices and ragi flour. You can add vegetables like peas, carrots, and cauliflower to increase the nutritional value of this dish.

Ragi Smoothie

Another popular preparation that is a favorite among mothers is the ragi smoothie. All you have to do is mix a cup of milk, half a banana, one tablespoon of peanut butter and two tablespoons of ragi powder in a blender and blend it until it turns out to be frothy. This can be given to your baby as an evening snack once he/she has completed six months of age.

Ragi Cakes

Cakes are delicious treats which are loved by kids of all ages! But if you're worried that cakes aren't healthy enough for your little one, try making them with ragi instead! You can replace about half the quantity of wheat flour in a cake recipe with ragi flour to make this nutritious treat for your baby.

Ragi Cookies

Last but not least, who can resist the temptation of cookies? Ragi cookies are not only delicious but are healthy too. To prepare this dish, you will need one and a half cups of ragi flour, half cup each of wheat flour and jaggery powder (gud), one teaspoon baking soda, a pinch of salt and two teaspoons clarified butter or ghee (clarified butter). Mix all the ingredients together except ghee/clarified butter and slowly add water to it to make a dough. Once

If your child is old enough to consume complementary food, ragi is one of the best options you can offer. It is rich in calcium and as I discussed earlier, it has a variety of other vitamins and minerals as well. By adding ragi flour to baby's food, your child will be having all the nutrients that he needs in his diet in order to keep him healthy for long.

In conclusion, ragi is one of the healthiest food grains for your baby. It can be used as an amazing substitute for some regular wheat or rice mixes that you usually add to your baby's diet. Ragi is easily available in any urban or rural area. Kids love the taste of ragi prepared in different recipes and this food could be an excellent motivator for them to eat healthy and grow big and strong.