All About Ragi (1)

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All about Ragi

Vegweightlossdiets.com

Preface Humanity has changed rapidly over the past 4 decades and so are our eating habits. Most of our eating habits have gone worse as we have been increasingly driven by taste, look and feel of the food rather than health benefits they offer. The big corporates in the food industry have made use of this weakness of ours to make huge profits at the expense of our health. The rapid rise in number of lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart attack, stroke and cancer are clear indication of this. However, the good part is that healthy living is not that difficult. However, it does require us to take strong steps towards making key changes to our lifestyle where we eat natural, wholesome foods and exercise regularly. We also need to keep ourselves informed the real healthy foods use them regularly and also keep away from those which are not good but might still are marketed as “healthy”.

Also in this connected world, finding useful healthy information might appear to be easy to find but not actually so. While Internet does have very good useful information it has substantially higher proportion of false and misleading information. However the bottom line is that we need to continuously seek and read health information and update our lifestyle as and when you get new credible information. Downloading this book could be one termed as one such exercise. So congratulations and thanks to you for downloading this book. What does this book contain? Well, this book looks at different aspects of one of the less known grain – the finger millet (commonly known as Ragi) in greater detail. This book tries to touch upon below topics in brief 

What is Ragi and why eat them?



What are the nutritional facts of Ragi?



How nutritious is Ragi when compared to other grains and other millets



What are some unconfirmed information about Ragi



Few good recipes of ragi which you can try straight away



What is the best form of eating Ragi and final few words

“ Live first, pleasure next. Health first, taste next ”

All about Ragi


What is Ragi? Ragi is one of the well-known Indian names of a wonder grain the Finger Millet. It is also known as African millet, Wimbi in Swahili, Bolu in Uganda, Telebun in Sudan and Nachni in northern part of India (for convenience we will use the word ragi and finger millet throughout this document). It is one of the oldest grains to be harvested and consumed by the humankind. It was in fact the stable diet for most in Asia before rice replaced became the dominant stable food. Currently, ragi is primarily grown in the arid regions of Africa and southern India. In India, the state of Karnataka is the biggest producer of ragi. Ragi is a very adoptive plant and can also be grown in arid places and also at places of higher altitudes. Once it is harvested the ragi seeds stay very stable and they don’t get spoilt easily because of very long shelf life and very rarely get attacked by insects or mould. All these properties of ragi make it one of the best options for farmers of arid places where other crops are difficult to grow. While it is nutritious and has some good unique benefits, it is not as popular as other grains like rice, wheat and oats. The main reasons could be that there are not as many varieties of foods that can be prepared with ragi and also some find its taste not very appealing. This might explain why it is not easy to find a ragi based dish in most hotels and restaurants. This is one of the reasons why ragi is not grown widely.

The amazing ragi powder

“ Eat for the whole body not just for your tongue”

All about Ragi


Why eat Ragi? Ragi is one of the nutritious grains out there currently. It is rich in many nutrients like calcium, iron and other essential nutrients. While it is essentially made of carbohydrates it does have good percentage of fibre and decent amount of protein. It has very low amounts of fat and really tiny amounts of bad saturated fats. The protein content of ragi has decent percentage of essential amino acids which plays a critical for us. We will see more on this in just a moment. It is also not an acid forming food and hence it is soothing in nature. It is also one of the least allergenic and most digestible grains. Let us look at nutritional information of ragi to understand why it should be part of our diet. A research done on use of ragi to prevent malnutrition concluded that the ragi starch as a very good. It is also considered very safe, effective and enables quick growth. This along with its amazingly high percentage of calcium and easy digestibility of ragi makes it one of the ideal grains to be included as a part of diet for young babies. The rich calcium content puts a case for ragi to be one of the best choices for vegans to meet their calcium RDA.

Basic Nutrition Numbers Let us look at the basic composition of Ragi. The below table depicts the in a typical content in 100 grams of Ragi Flour (edible portion, 12% moisture). Major portion of Ragi Flour is carbohydrate, followed by protein and fibre. It has the least amount of fat in them. Content

Amount / 100 gms (grams)

Carbohydrate

72.6

Protein

7.7

Fibre

3.6

Fat

1.3 S o u r c e : IRJPOnline

Minerals Finger millet also provides good number of minerals which are essential for our body and growth. In the below section let us explore two critical mineral we get from finger millet.


All about Ragi


Content

Amount / 100 gms (mgs)

Calcium

350

Iron

3.9 S o u r c e : IRJPOnline

The finger millet provides the most calcium when compared to any grain. This makes it one of the rich sources of calcium as 100 grams of ragi provides over 40% of RDA of an adult male. Calcium is critical for stronger bones and teeth and to prevent Osteoporosis, a disease which weakens the bones. The below table gives a breakdown of how much calcium we are estimated to need and what portion of it is met by a 100 grams of finger millet. The breakdown is given by age group and gender. More details can be found from the reference section.

Person

Age (Years)

Children Children Young Male Teen Male

1 – 3 4 – 8 9 – 13 14 – 18 19 – 30 31 – 50 51 – 70 Over 70

Adult Male

Estimated Requirements (mg/day) 500 800 1100 1100 800 800 800 1000

% RDA Met (by 100 grams of Ragi) 70% 43% 31% 31% 43% 43% 43% 35%

S o u r c e : nap.edu

1 – 3 4 – 8 9 – 13 14 – 18 19 – 30 31 – 50 51 – 70 Over 70 19 – 50

Estimated Requirements (mg/day) 500 800 1100 1100 800 800 1000 1000 800

19 – 50

800

Age (Years)

Person Children Children Young Female Teen Female Adult Female Adult Pregnant Adult Breast feeding Female

% RDA Met (by 100 grams of Ragi) 70% 43% 31% 31% 43% 43% 35% 35% 43% 43%



All about Ragi


The next important mineral in ragi is Iron which is one of the most essential minerals we need. In fact human diet generally lacks the necessary amounts of Iron content and hence it is prescribed and available as supplement tablets. Given this, ragi is a great option to be added to our regular diet. Below is the table which gives an idea of how much Iron we need on a daily basis and how much of it could be satisfied by having around 100 grams of Ragi included in our diet. Critical point to note is that our body struggles to absorb Iron from food. Hence it is important to eat iron rich food along with Vitamin C rich foods as this combination helps increase the percentage of iron absorbed by the body. So it would be a great idea to eat a ragi based diet like ragi dosa or roti with tomato and spinach curry. In this example diet, both ragi and spinach are rich in Iron while tomato provides necessary vitamin C. Person Children Male Female Pregnant

Recommended RDA (mg/day) 3.0 – 6.9 5.9 – 7.7 5 – 8.1 22

% RDA Met (by 100 grams of Ragi) 52 – 87% 46 – 61% 44 – 72% 16%


Essential Amino Acids EAA The protein content of ragi also supplies with a number of Essential Amino Acids (EAA) which are important to us as our body cannot synthesise them on its own. The benefits include repair of tissues, enabling muscle co-ordination (both by Valine), aid blood formation (Isoleucine), aid tooth enamel formation (Threonine) and act as a relaxant and fight anxiety, depression (Tryptophan). You can learn more about benefits of EAA online (here is one example and here is another) Below is the list of EAAs supplied by ragi per gram of protein we get from it. Amino Acids Content

Amount (mg/g of protein)

Leucine Valine Phenylalanine Isoleucine Threonine Methionine Tryptophan Lysine

594 413 325 275 263 194 191 181 S o u r c e : IRJPOnline


All about Ragi


Comparison with other staple grains There are many staple grains which are used by millions of people around the world as staple food. So it makes sense to compare Ragi with nutrient rich grains to understand where Ragi stands. Basic Components Food

Energy (kcal)

Carbs (g)

Protein (g)

Minerals

Fibre (g)

Fat (g)

Ca (mg)

Fe (mg)

Brown Rice Wheat

362

76

7.9

1

2.7

33

1.8

348

71

11.6

2

2

30

3.5

Maize

358

73

9.2

2.8

4.6

26

2.7

Oat Bran

246

66.2

17.3

15.4

7.0

58

5.4

Finger millet

336

72.6

7.7

3.6

1.5

350

3.9

Buckwheat

343

71.0

13.0

10.0

3.0

18

2.2

Quinoa

368

64.0

14.0

7.0

6.0

47

4.6

Rye

335

70

15

15

3

33

2.7

S o u r c e : IRJPOnline an d Nutritiondata

From the table it is clear that Ragi is miles ahead on the amount of calcium it provides. However, our body need more than just calcium and hence we need to look at other nutrients provided by the grain (or any other food for that matter) and that’s where Ragi falls slightly behind. If you look at the grains in the table, you could see that oats, quinoa and buckwheat comfortably beat most other grains in the amount of protein and fibre they supply. Protein and fibre critically essential for our body and hence oats, quinoa and buckwheat are one of the best grains out there and should be part of everybody’s diet. Well, this book is not about other grains nor it is about glorifying Ragi as the best grain out there. It simply puts all the information about ragi in one place to put a case for why it has to be part of our diet more regularly. As each grain has its positive and negative, there is a case for each grain to be part of our diet. Only one exception being wheat and rye due to its gluten content has a fair share of experts advising against consuming these even if you are not gluten sensitive. At least given the number of choice we have we could at least include more grains to reduce ill effects caused due to over consumption of one or two grains alone. However be sensitive to your body’s needs and modify your diet accordingly.


All about Ragi


Comparison with other Millets Ragi is not the only millet out there, there are many. Hence it is important for us to compare all the millets with each other for their nutritional value. So below table does that for you. Basic Components Food

Minerals

Carbs (g)

Protein (g)

Fibre (g)

Fat (g)

Ca (mg)

Fe (mg)

60.9

12.3

8.0

4.3

31

2.8

Kudo Millet

65.9

8.3

9.0

1.4

27

0.5

Pearl Millet

67.5

11.6

1.2

5.0

42

8.0

Sorghum

72.6

10.4

1.6

1.9

25

4.1

Finger millet

72.0

7.3

3.6

1.3

350

3.9

Foxtall Millet

S o u r c e : Nutritive Value of Indian Foods

The table might surprise some as all other millets provide more protein and fibre than ragi. The only place ragi scores better is of course in calcium content and there is no other grain which is so close out there.

Uncertain claims about Ragi Ragi is incorrectly portrayed as a food with low glycaemic index (GI) and hence the best food to for diabetic patients. However, this is unconfirmed that the ragi we consume is truly low on GI and suited for diabetic patients. Until and unless there is clear and concrete evidence based research says otherwise it is best to not to assume that ragi is good for diabetic. So if you or anyone in your family is diabetic, it is advised to seek professional advice before you start including ragi as a part of a diet.

Forms of Ragi Most grains cannot be eaten raw and ragi is no different. Ragi is typically available commercially in the form of powder and most dishes are prepared out of Ragi powder. The powder could be of two types – normal powder which gets prepared by crushing the dried ragi while the other is by sprouting, drying and then grounding it in the end. Some of these also get roasted. Like any grain, ragi’s nutrition does change based on the processing method used and hence it is advisable to avoid


All about Ragi


unnecessarily processed ragi powder. Sprouted, dried ragi powder is probably the best option available.

Recipes of Ragi Now that you know how good the ragi is, it makes sense to list some good recipes of ragi. The most famous dishes in India are ragi dosa, ragi rotti, ragi malt, ragi porridge and ragi mudde (ragi balls). Below are some of these recipes from our site.

1. Sweet Ragi Malt Ragi Malt is a beverage prepared in rural India which is both quick and nutritious. It can be made either light or thick as we prefer and you can experiment with adding different ingredient (finely cut fruits, nuts etc) which goes along with its sweet taste. Ingredients

Quantity

Type of Ingredient

Ragi Flour

½ Cup (40 grams)

Main

Water

1 Cup (100 – 200 ml)

Main

Sweetener

Maple Syrup/ Jaggery/ Brown Sugar

Main

Milk

Soy/Almond/Coconut Milk

Optional

Cardamom powder

½ Tea spoon

Optional

Step 1: Take the ragi flour in a cup and add small amounts of water slowly and mix them to get a think but smooth liquid solution. It is essential to get a lump free liquid paste and hence slow careful mixing is essential. If the lumps do get formed break them one by one until you get a smooth mix of water and ragi. A l t e r n a t e M et h o d : You can also consider adding small amounts of flour on to heating water accompanied with continuous stirring. Step 2: Once ready keep aside the ragi paste and start heating a glass of water in a different vessel. If you prefer, you can also use suitable amount of milk along with water to enhance the taste. Step 4: The water/milk mixture must be heated till it becomes very hot. Step 5: Now slowly add already prepared Ragi flour solution to hot water/milk mixture accompanied with continuous stirring. Step 6: Add a pinch of cardamom powder followed by suitable amount of maple syrup or jaggery depending on your comfort. As little you add better it is. Step 7: Now reduce the heat and simmer the content for 4-5 minutes with periodic stirring. Turn off the heating device after this. Electric heater/stove might have to be


All about Ragi


switched earlier to get the same result due to slowness in reducing the heat supplied. Step 9: Let the drink cool down as per your needs and hurray! The drink is ready to be served. You can add dried fruits, nuts and also fruits which are finely cut to this as well. This will make the drink more nutritious.

2. Salty Hot Ragi Malt The sweet variant might be the easy way to get your kid to consume ragi but given that we add additional sugar to malt it is not be the best option, at least not for all. So the other option is to go for hot and salty option which increases the health quotient of the recipe. Also given that it is non sweet in nature, you can add other food items like dal, grated or chopped vegetables or cooked rice to it. The options you end up having is limited by your creativity (which might be true for any recipe). Coming back to salty hot ragi recipe, let us look at what is needed and how to prepare this variant of ragi malt.


All about Ragi


Ingredients

Quantity

Type of Ingredient

Ragi Flour

½ Cup (40 grams)

Main

Warm Water

1 Cup (100 – 200 ml)

Main

Green/Red Chillies

1 finely chopped

Main

Salt

½ Tea spoon

Optional

Nuts

2 spoonful

Optional

Ginger Paste

½ Tea spoon

Optional

Plain Tofu

1 small cup (25 – 50 ml)

Optional

Step 1: Add small amounts of flour on to heating water accompanied with continuous stirring. Key again is to focus on smooth easy paste. It is essential to get a lump free liquid paste and hence slow careful mixing is essential. Step 2: Mix chopped chillies, small amounts of ginger (or ginger paste) and tofu and a cup of water in a mixer or blender. Ensure that they mix well. Step 3: Slowly add the newly mixed solution to the liquid ragi solution, add little amount of salt (typically less than how much you think you need) and blend them for 2-3 minutes until the final solution is evenly mixed. Step 4: You can allow the drink to cool down as per your comfort. The drink can be had either cold or hot.


All about Ragi


Ragi Rotti After two liquid foods let’s look at a solid food which will be more filling. Ragi rotti is probably the second most favourite ragi based dish in the southern part of India after ragi dosa. Ragi rotti is typically eaten in the rural parts than urban and requires lot more time to prepare than preparing dosa. However, given the hard beautiful texture, unique taste it is enjoyed by many. Now, let’s look at how to prepare it. Ingredients

Quantity

Type of Ingredient

Ragi Flour

2 Cup (100 grams)

Main

Warm Water

1 Cup (100 ml)

Main

Green/Red Chillies

2 finely chopped

Main

Onions

1 Large (finely chopped)

Optional

Bell Peppers

½ Finely chopped

Optional

Carrot

1 Finely grated

Optional

Salt

½ Tea spoon

Optional

Ginger Paste

½ Tea spoon

Optional

Step 1: Add the Ragi flour, salt, jeera, finely chopped onion, carrot and bell peppers and chillies into a bowl and mix well. Start adding little amounts of water at short intervals till you end up getting think mix. Step 2: Unlike dosa, the roti has to be laid thinly over the pan before you start heating. Take a handful of paste and slowly flatten it on the pan. Most people use clean hands to do this but you can use a wooden spoon/spatula (this activity of spreading the paste/mix on the pan becomes a challenge for subsequent rottis as the pan will be very hot post first roti. So typically many use two pans alternatively – one for heating and the other for cooling and spreading of the mix). Step 3: If you are not using a non-stick pan the ragi rotti sometimes stick to the pan surface. Hence a thin layer of oil on the pan before its use helps. Hint: If you need the Roti to be thin and crisp then then spread dough thin all along the pan. This is only possible if you to get correct amount of mix and the pan is cold. Otherwise, the mix will start cooking and sticking to the pan as soon as you start spreading and hence you will not be able to spread the mix into a think rotti. Step 4: Once the rotti is cooked on one side (You can make this out by change in colour of Roti, smell and the rotti getting firm and hard) flip it over and cook the other side for few minutes. Typically give some 4 mins on first side and 2 mins on the second. Cover the pan with a lid if you have while cooking. Step 5: Now the Roti is ready to be served. Serve hot on its own or with different type of other dishes like chutney, sauce or pickle.


All about Ragi


Final Words You probably know it by now but let’s state it again – Ragi is certainly a good grain and hence needed to be part of your normal diet however it is not going to win the “best grain” award and hence it is critical to eat other nutritious grains like oats, quinoa and buckwheat more. Excessive consumption of could lead to kidney stones as ragi is rich in calcium. The bigger issue is not that we eat of wrong kind of grains (e.g. eating white rice instead of brown rice) but our diet contains more portions of grains than we should. It is highly recommended that we reduce and replace grains with vegetables where possible to ensure that we have a healthy long lasting life. However, we are nowhere near. Ideally we should eat 7-9 portions of different fruits and vegetables every day. However, our most of us eat less than 5. The only way to increase the amount of vegetables we eat is by reducing the amount of grain. As an example, in all recipes mentioned above, we should explore all possibilities to include more and more vegetables to an extent that portion of vegetables is higher than portion of grain. The end goal should be to use grains as a binding part of the food and a taste enhancer rather than being the biggest portion of the food we eat.


All about Ragi


Feedback Everything we do involve a lot of effort but we do it purely to spread the message of healthy living and natural sustainable weight loss. However, we would not know if we are doing a good job or not unless we hear from you. Your feedback is also a great opportunity for us to learn and grow. So it would be awesome to know what you think of this book, what you got out of it and what specific action you would take to make your diet healthier. We are eager to know what you liked or disliked about this book and what we can be do to make this book better and more useful. Finally, we want to know what health topics you want to know more about so that we can consider them when planning our next works. You can reach us at [email protected].

About Veg weight loss diets Vegweightlossdiets is nutrition based website aimed at promoting vegan and vegetarian based healthy foods, recipes and other habits which promotes long term health and ensure easy and natural weight loss (or gain). The website currently serves thousands of visitors every month and aims to serve at least a 100,000 people by the end of 2015. It won’t happen without your help obviously. So we need all the support possible. To start with, if you like this book and not yet joined our free subscription list then you can join by clicking here. You could also like our Facebook or google plus pages or subscribe to twitter account to be informed about all thing good information we share.

This book has been written by our lead author Harish who is a full time vegan and someone passionate about reading, researching and writing about the best way to lead a healthy life. He considers himself a human guinea pig to try out different diets on him in order to see the best way to gain optimal health. You can reach him for your views on the book or any articles directly by writing to his below email [email protected]. You can know more about him in our about us page.


All about Ragi


Source of Information While some sources have been listed throughout the document there are others which were referred to ensure the information here is accurate. Below is the comprehensive list of sources used for creation of this book. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Nutritiondata Nutritive Value of Indian Foods Blackherbals.com Realtime.net IRJPOnline nap.edu


All About Ragi (1)

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