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Ragi Idli Recipe-Soft Finger Millet Idli Recipe

January 29, 2015 by PadhuSankar 6 Comments

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Idli is one of my favorite breakfast. I make idli, dosa with all varieties of millet and rice. I alternate between rice idli, dosa and millet idli, dosa, so that no one at home will complain that I am making idli and dosa with millets alone. I love to prepare ragi dishes as no other grain has so much calcium as ragi and it is also an excellent source of iron. It helps maintain bone health and prevents osteoporosis. Ragi (known as kezhvaragu in Tamil) is an excellent food for those with low hemoglobin levels. It a good source of dietary fiber and is also gluten free. Ragi idli is a very healthy breakfast and is suitable for kids and older people. These idlis are soft, spongy and nutritious and very easy to prepare. Learn how to make Soft ragi idlis using ragi flour following this easy and healthy recipe.

Ragi Idli-Finger millet idli
2 from 4 votes
Ragi Idli
Print
Ragi Idli-Finger Millet Idli Recipe
Prep Time
8 hrs
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
8 hrs 20 mins
 

Finger millet/Ragi idli is a very healthy breakfast and is suitable for kids and older people. These idlis are soft, spongy and nutritious and very easy to prepare. Finger millet or ragi idli is made with rice, urad dal and ragi flour. No other grain has so much calcium as ragi and it is also an excellent source of iron. It helps maintain bone health and prevents osteoporosis. Ragi (known as kezhvaragu in Tamil) is an excellent food for those with low hemoglobin levels. It a good source of dietary fiber and is also gluten free.

Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: South Indian
Keyword: finger millet idli, Ragi idli
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
Ingredients needed
  • 1 cup Idli Rice (Idli pulungal arisi)
  • 2 cups Ragi flour/finger millet flour
  • 1 cup Whole Urad dal (without skin)
  • 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds (vendhayam)
  • Salt as needed
Instructions
Preparations
  1. Wash and soak urad dal + fenugreek seeds for 4 hours. Wash and soak rice separately for 4-5 hours.

  2. Grind urad dal + fenugreek seeds adding water little at a time until smooth and fluffy. Remove and keep it in a vessel.

  3. Grind rice adding water from time to time to a sightly coarse batter.

  4. Now add the urad dal batter, ragi flour and salt to the rice batter and grind everything together until well mixed.

  5. The consistency of the batter should be similar to idli batter (neither too thick nor too thin).

  6. Remove from the wet grinder and mix it well with your hands.

  7. Leave it to ferment overnight or for 7-8 hours. Use a big vessel to prevent it from over flowing as it will double while fermenting.

  8. Our Ragi Idli batter is ready.

How to make Ragi Idli
  1. Heat water in an idli vessel or steamer. Mix the fermented ragi idli batter well and pour a ladle of batter into the greased idli molds and place it inside the steamer or idli cooker.

  2. Steam cook for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the idli comes out clean.

  3. Remove from the mold after 2-3 minutes using a spoon dipped in water.

  4. Serve Ragi Idli hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.

Recipe Notes

The idlis were super soft and delicious without any baking soda or cooking soda. I suggest using the wet grinder to grind the batter.

You can make delicious ragi dosa also with the same batter.

Watch the making of Ragi Idli Video from scratch

Preparation

Wash and soak urad dal + fenugreek seeds for 4 hours. Wash and soak rice separately for 4-5 hours.

Grind urad dal +fenugreek seeds adding water little at a time until smooth and fluffy. Remove and keep it in a vessel.

Grind rice adding water from time to time to a sightly coarse batter.

Now add the urad dal batter, ragi flour and salt to the rice batter and grind everything together until well mixed. The consistency of the batter should be similar to idli batter (neither too thick nor too thin).

Remove from the wet grinder and mix it well with your hands. Leave it to ferment overnight or for 7-8 hours. Use a big vessel to prevent it from over flowing as it will double while fermenting. Our Ragi Idli batter is ready.

Method

Heat water in an idli vessel or steamer. Mix the fermented ragi idli batter well and pour a ladle of batter into the greased idli molds and place it inside the steamer or idli cooker.

Steam cook for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the idli comes out clean.

Once cooked, wait for 2 minutes. Then dip a spoon in water and remove  the idlis from the mold.

Serve ragi idlis hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.

Note – The idlis were super soft and delicious without any baking soda or cooking soda. I suggest using the wet grinder to grind the batter.

You can make delicious ragi dosa also with the same batter.

If you love healthy breakfast recipes check out our collection of Idli Recipes given below

Rava Idli Recipe 

Instant Oats Idli 

Soft Idlis (regular white rice idli recipe)

Brown Rice Idli 

Foxtail Millet Idli 

Kanchipuram Idli 

Raw Rice Idli 

Vegetable Idli 

If you found this post useful, I would really love it, if you pin it or share it with your Facebook fans or Twitter followers or Google+ circles today. All it takes is a simple click on the “pin it” “like,” “share,” “tweet,” or Google+ buttons below the post. It will keep me motivated. Thank  you!

 

Related posts:

Gooseberry Chutney-Nellikai (Amla) Thuvaiyal Recipe-Gooseberry Recipes

Misal Pav Recipe-How to make Misal Pav

Palada Pradhaman Payasam-Kerala Ada Pradhaman-Onam Special Recipes

Peerkangai Chutney for Idli-Dosa-Ridge Gourd Chutney Recipe

Filed Under: Breakfast Varieties, Uncategorized, Video Recipe Tagged With: Health Dish, Idli Varieties, Kids Favourite recipes, Millet Recipes, Ragi Recipes, South Indian recipes, Uncategorized




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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. SPriya Shan

    January 29, 2015 at 11:51 am

    Healthy recipe

    Reply
  2. Shalini Mehta

    May 2, 2015 at 8:58 am

    Could you please share the recipe of the lovely red chutney with the ragi idlis.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      May 2, 2015 at 2:15 pm

      Recipe for the Tomato chutney

      Reply
  3. Vineetha Vivek

    August 20, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    Can you pl share a recipe for making instant ragi idli like adding store bought ragi flour with already made idli batter?

    Reply
  4. Move on !

    July 1, 2018 at 5:22 am

    The secret for soft idly lies in grinding the rice n ragi flour together or we can mix it later with regular batter ? If we can, pls share the ratio of regular idly batter + ragi flour

    Reply
  5. SamayalDiary

    January 23, 2020 at 12:57 am

    If we have to make with ragi instead of flour, will the same ratio work?

    Reply
2 from 4 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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Meet Padhu, the Chef, the photographer, recipe developer and web designer behind Padhuskitchen which features Simple Indian Vegetarian recipes, healthy recipes, kids friendly recipes, Indian festival recipes, traditional South Indian Vegetarian ...

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