With wholesome ingredients like ragi (nachni/finger millet) flour, whole wheat flour, a tiny amount of ghee, jaggery, rock sugar/misri and aromatic spices, you cannot go wrong with these Ragi Wheat Ladoos taste wise and health wise!
Ingredients (makes 8-9 small ladoos):
- Ragi (Nachni/finger millet) flour (2 tbsp)
- Wheat flour (2 tbsp)
- Ghee (Residue left over after making ghee from a stick of butter + 1 tsp ghee or 2 tsp ghee)
- Jaggery (3/4th tbsp or per taste)
- Powdered Rock Sugar/Misri (3/4th tbsp or per taste)
- Cardamom powder (a pinch)
- Cinnamon powder (a pinch)
Method:
- Make ghee from a stick of butter. When the ghee is ready and slightly cool, strain the ghee and collect the residue (also known as kashandu in Tamil).
- Place the ghee residue with 1 tsp of ghee in a pan on low to medium heat.
- Add the ragi flour and wheat flour and roast for a few minutes, stirring continuously, until the flours change color slightly.
- Add powdered jaggery and misri and mix well until the flours and sweeteners are well homogenized on low heat.
- Switch off the flame and add the powdered spices.
- Wait until you can touch the mixture with your palms comfortably (it should be still warm) and shape the ladoos with your palms. You may add more ghee if the ladoos don’t hold their shape. Alternatively, you can just serve the mixture as a powder in a cup with a spoon, if you want to hold back on the ghee!
Options:
- You may use any one sweetener of the two we have used in the above recipe, if you don’t have both on hand. So, instead of using 3/4th tbsp each of jaggery and rock sugar, you can use 1.5 tbsp of jaggery only or 1.5 tbsp of rock sugar only.
- You may use only ragi flour or only wheat flour or even other healthy substitutes like almond flour for this recipe.
Tastes (Rasa):
Sweet (flours, jaggery, rock sugar), sour (none), salty (none), bitter (none), pungent (cardamom, cinnamon), astringent (none).
Doshic Influence:
Finger millet is dry, light and warming, so is kapha balancing, and can be pitta and vata aggravating, in excess. Wheat is sticky, cold and heavy to digest, so is okay for pittas with good digestion, but can be vata and kapha aggravating in excess. Ghee is nourishing, lubricating and tridoshic, while also helping with digestibility of the dish. Jaggery and rock sugar are mostly tridoshic and especially great for vatas and pittas. Spices like cardamom and cinnamon add that slight bit of pungency needed to further enhance the flavor and digestibility of desserts with predominantly sweet tasting ingredients.
Effects on the Mind (Gunas):
Ragi-Wheat Ladoos are nourishing, sweet and sattvic, if made using fresh ingredients.