Did you know that ragi has about 8 times the calcium that rice and wheat contain? Half a cup of ragi flour will take care of a third of your daily calcium needs and half of your daily vitamin B1 (thiamine) needs. How cool is that!

It is also a wonderful food option for diabetics, as it contains no gluten. It also has 3 times the fibre content that rice and wheat have, making it a wonderful digestion aid.

Making ragi puttu is one of the best ways to cook ragi, as it primarily involves steaming, which preserves much higher nutrition compared to other methods of cooking.

Serves 2
Time: 20 min

Ingredients:

2 cups ragi flour
1 cup freshly grated coconut
½ cup water
Salt

Special Equipment:

The puttu vessel is traditionally used to prepare puttu

Substitutions: A coconut shell with one eye pierced and placed over the valve of a pressure cooker might be used as a substitute.
A steamer could also be used.

Method:

Mix boiling water into ragi flour in small quantities. The water is mixed in by rubbing it into the flour, so that the flour becomes granular, resembling the texture of bread crumbs. It should not be too dry or too wet.

Mix 5 tbsp of grated coconut and salt into the flour..

Place a layer of 2-3 tbsp of coconut at the bottom of the puttu vessel and then put the rice flour mixture, followed by another layer of coconut.

Steam for 10 minutes.

Remove the puttu from the vessel and serve hot with kadala or payar curry, plaintains or just sugar and ghee.