ragi flour

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.

ragi flour or ragi powder for babies 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.

swasthis recipes ragi flour recipe

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.

sprouting ragi powder to make baby food

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.

sprouting millets to make ragi flour ragi powder recipe
ragi flour

Ragi flour

Sprouted finger millet flour is used to make porridge, mudde and sankanti
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For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time2 days 14 hours
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time2 days 14 hours 15 minutes
Servings1 kg flour
AuthorSwasthi

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)

Nutrition Facts
Ragi flour
Amount Per Serving
Calories 3280 Calories from Fat 117
% Daily Value*
Fat 13g20%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Sodium 110mg5%
Potassium 4080mg117%
Carbohydrates 720g240%
Protein 73g146%
Calcium 3440mg344%
Iron 39mg217%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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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. More about me

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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 ?

5 stars
Very good fail proof recipes Swasthi. Thank you?

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, I’m Dr. Subhana, I wanted to share an information, ragi is known for its Iron content, and having it with milk interferes with its Iron absorption. So ragi taken with milk, you won’t get the iron from ragi…

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 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

Thanks

Can you pls tell us how long we can store this ragi powder in room temp and in the refrigerator? Thanks!

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.

I don’t have a place where I can air dry it.. can we sun dry and use powder it..

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

Thank you for your detail description.

Can you make Ragi flour without soaking and sprouting

4 stars
Please include sprouted ragi pictures

Love you dear,so helpful

Can I make chapattis with this flour

5 stars
You are doing a great job…

Hi can we use this powder for making cakes etc

4 stars
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

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 madam ; my grandson is going to be six months old , I would like to start with solid food , what would you sugge

Can I give packed ragi flour to my 9 months old baby.

5 stars
hi mam,
can u pls explain the way of making ordinary ragi flour at home without sprouting….?
thnk u