Ragi Porridge for Babies
Ragi is such a nutritional food for babies. It has high amount of protein, calcium and minerals, lots of iron and a good mix of amino acids. It is a complete wonder food for babies. So as my second solid food after my Apple Sauce, i thought of introducing my daughter ragi.
About Ragi Porridge for Babies
I was totally confused whether to give ragi porridge made with fresh ragi or make homemade sprouted ragi flour because it is more convenient. Amma suggested to give fresh ragi porridge made from ragi milk. It is a long process, first you have to soak ragi, grind, extract ragi milk from it and cook. Every other night I used to soak ½ cup of fresh ragi and make ragi porridge. I did this during first stage of feeding solid, say the entire 6 months. Later I made homemade sprouted ragi powder for babies. It is more convenient and time saving. Making ragi porridge from ragi flour is easy and very healthy too. When I travel, I carry my instant ragi porridge mix which involves no cooking at all. I have shared all three versions of making ragi porridge for babies in this blog post.
Ragi | Finger millet
Ragi has tons of health benefits. Specially for babies, toddlers and kids. It is rich in calcium which is important to add in your babies diet. Even as an adult we consume ragi malt and my health mix which has ragi often. Ragi porridge for babies is made using fresh ragi grains. First method uses fresh ragi which is soaked and milk is extracted and cooked. Ragi grains is allowed to sprout for more nutrients. Below is a picture of ragi grain in raw form and soaked.
Ragi Porridge using Fresh Ragi
This recipe for ragi porridge made from fresh ragi is great for stage one baby food. It is advisable to start solids for babies from 6 month. Ragi is great first food for babies along with apples, carrots. It is recommended to make ragi porridge using ragi milk for the first few weeks of solids. Since porridge made from ragi milk is healthy and light since it doesn’t has the whole ragi grains which might be hard for babies to digest. 1)I use ½ cup of ragi to make a good bowl of ragi porridge. You have to experiment on this measurement to know how much your baby can consume. 2)To make fresh ragi porridge. Start by washing fresh ragi by rubbing with your hands in lots and lots of water to get rid of dirt and other unwanted stuff. 3)Do this step at least 4 to 5 times to make sure that your ragi is absolutely clean. 4)Soak ragi in fresh clean water overnight. 5)Next morning strain them and take it in a blender. 6)Add some boiled and cooled clean water to grind them to a smooth paste. 7)Take a clean saucepan, line them with a clean white cloth. Pour the pureed ragi over the cloth and let it drain. 8)Squeeze with your hands so all the milk has been extracted from ragi. 9)Now take the sauce pan to stove and start cooking on low flame. if it is too thick you can add some water. 10)Cook them for 5 to 6 mins till the porridge is cooked and has become thick. You can add any sweetener as you prefer like jaggery, palm candy. 11)Now let them cool to warm, pour the porridge in sterilized bowl and feed your baby.
Ragi Porridge with Ragi Flour
Ragi Porridge using Homemade Ragi Powder is more convenient, efficient and time consuming. Make a batch of my homemade sprouted ragi flour and you can make porridge easily any time.
Ingredients
Homemade Ragi Porridge - 1 tbsp Karupatti - 2 tbsp Water - ¾ cup
How to Make Ragi Porridge with Ragi Flour
1)I used my homemade sprouted ragi flour. 2)This is my sweetener. I used karupatti. This is how I made it. Take a saucepan, add in 2 tbsp of karupatti. Now pour in ¾ cup of clean water. Heat this up and cook until the karupatti is melted. Take a clean bowl and a fine mesh strainer. Sieve the liquid through this. This is your karupatti liquid. 3)Now add a tbsp of homemade ragi powder in the liquid and mix well so no lumps are formed. 4)Now pour this liquid in the saucepan and cook. Keep mixing constantly. It will get thick in 3 to 4 minutes. 5)Once thickened. Take it off the heat, allow it to cool down and transfer it to feeding bowl or feeding bottle and feed your baby.
Instant Ragi Porridge Mix (No Cooking Required)
Instant Ragi Porridge Mix are great to have handy when travelling, since they require no cooking you can just add some milk or water and feed your baby. I am sure you will be feeling so happy when you feed your baby with these instead of the packaged stuffs.
Ingredients
Ragi Flour / Fingermillet flour - 1 cup Rock Sugar | Palm candy or Panakarkandu - ½ cup Ghee or Melted Butter - ¼ cup Milk or Water - 2 tbsp
How to Make Instant Ragi Porridge Mix
1)Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Take palm candy in a blender and powder fine and set aside. Take ragi flour in a dry pan and roast it on low heat for 5 to 6 mins till the raw smell leaves from it. 2)take roasted ragi flour in a bowl. 3)Add in powdered palm candy. 4)Add in melted butter or ghee. Mix it really well with the ragi flour and sugar. 5)Add water and form a dough. 6)Ragi cookie dough is ready. 7)Now roll the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap. 8)Trim of the egdes and cut into squares. 9)Remove it carefully using a spatula and place on a foil lined baking sheet. 10)Bake it for 15 to 18 mins till golden. It will be soft when you take from oven, it will harden as it cools down. Let it cool completely. 11)Now take the cooled biscuits in a blender and powder finely. 12)This is your instant ragi porridge mix. 13)For making instant ragi porridge. Take 1 tbsp of the instant ragi powder in a bowl. 14)Pour hot water or hot milk. mix well so it thickens. 15)Serve.
Expert Tips
Ragi is very healthy for babies, it is filling and help your baby gain weight in a healthy way. Few things you have to remember before making this.
Consistency of porridge
The consistency of the porridge which you make totally depends on you. You can make it runny and pour it bottles and feed your baby or make it little thicker and feed your baby using a spoon.
Sweetener
I use panakarkandu, palm candy or karupatti as sweetener. I take a small piece of karupatti or a piece of panakarkandu in a saucepan, add some water in it and heat it up till it is melted. Then i strain that and add it to ragi milk and cook them together. Karupatti strengthens your baby bones. Panakarkandu helps preventing cold for your babies. You can even mix up a small piece of both.
Cooking
4)Cook ragi properly. If you didn’t cook it properly, it may cause constipation. Many people say ragi may cause constipation. But I have been feeding this to my baby from 6 months, I had no issues so far.
1)Why are you sprouting ragi?
Ragi with skins are little hard for digestion. So sprouting the ragi will make it easier to digest. And also sprouted grains are more healthy and nutritious for your baby.
2)Is it necessary to store ragi flour in fridge?
I recommend you to store ragi in fridge. Because i am scary cat of handling homemade stuff. I always have concern that homemade stuff should be always be handled carefully because it can get spoiled so easily. So i always keep homemade powder, masala, pickles, jams in fridge to make sure it is always fresh.
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