Ragi muffins

Ragi is a wonder grain, it contains all the 3 parts of the kernel; bran, germ, and endosperm. It is rich brans and is also abundant in good carbohydrates. Ragi is an excellent source of iron, it increases hemoglobin level and boosts immunity.

Despite all this ragi also known as finger millet is one of the forgotten grains of India. In South India, for some ragi is the first choice when it comes to baby food. From ages babies in India were fed with ragi porridge as it helps in digestion and being high in calcium, was a good food for growing babies and toddlers. Regular consumption of ragi has also been known to reduce the risk of diabetes in kids.

I love to experiment with ragi. Ragi dosa, ragi porridge can become too monotonous and boring – it’s like you are stuffing a purplish bowl of goob down your baby’s throat.

So, I thought of preparing ragi muffins. It is a yummy and healthy snack option like ragi cookies.  Ragi muffins are very soft and spongy. You can simply enjoy it without any frosting. The recipe is very simple and can prepared within 15-20 minutes.

How to sneak in nutrition
I have made use of butter and multi grain saathu maavu flour to increase the nutrition value. One can also use almond milk instead of cow’s milk, as it is a good option if you are lactose intolerant.

Ingredients to make Ragi Muffins

• 1/2 cup Multi grain flour / Wheat flour
• 1/2 cup Ragi flour
• 1/2 cup Maida
• 1 teaspoon Baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon Baking soda
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1/2 cup Curd
• 1/2 cup almond milk /cow milk
• 4-5 drops of Vanilla essence
• Chopped nuts(Cashew, almonds, and walnuts)
• Pinch of salt

Method to Prepare Ragi muffins

Grease the muffin molds generously with butter and dust it with some flour. Tap and remove the excess flour from the molds. You can skip this step if you are using silicon molds or tray.

Pre heat the oven at 180-degree Celsius for 15 minutes. Take a large mixing bowl and add Ragi flour, multi grain flour, maida, baking soda, baking powder, salt and mix well.

Take another mixing bowl, add milk, curd and powdered jaggery and vanilla extract beat for 1-2 minutes or until frothy.

Add butter and beat for 30-60 seconds. Now add all the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix gently using a spatula do not over mix it.

Take a spoon and fill 3/4 of muffin mold with batter. Top it with chopped nuts of your choice. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the ragi muffin comes out clean.

Serve warm ragi muffins with chilled pumpkin banana shake. Store it in an air tight container. You can also freeze it up to 2 months.
Enjoy!