Chef Mom’s Recipe – Oats & Ragi Appam

In India, the first week of September, i.e, from 1st to 7th  is called National Nutrition Week. Keeping it in mind, every month I try some new and healthy recipes. This week I tried a healthy breakfast recipe called Oats & Ragi Appam.

OATS are incredibly nutritious and have more benefits – 100% pure with no preservatives and no added additives.

RAGI, a whole grain, gluten-free & staple diet food of South India. It’s popularly known as Finger Millet or Nachni. This Wonderful whole grain is actually originated from Africa,  Uganda & Ethiopia and is being cultivated from many years.

I know, you might be thinking, why did I use Ragi when Oats itself is a super food full of Nutrients and Minerals. Let me help you understand this, Ragi, a well-known Cereal is missing in our daily diet, which is unfortunate. Finger Millet’s provides Nutritional and Therapeutic value to our body and is also a very adaptable Crop, suitable to Indian climatic conditions

Precaution

Oats and Ragi both have their own benefits. Both are excellent at avoiding constipation and purifying the digestive system. Incorporating ragi and oats into your diet is a good idea. However, one must be careful with the amount consumed as both are fiber-rich, excessive use may lead to diarrhea.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of finely powdered oats
• 1 cup of  Ragi flour
• ½ grated Onion
• ½ grated Carrot
• ½ tbsp grated Ginger
• 2 tbsp – Coriander leaves/Cilantro
• Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1 teaspoon
• Salt as per taste
• Hing – pinch
• Homemade Ghee (king ingredient) – 1 small bowl.
• Water/Buttermilk – 1 cup

Procedure

• Roast the Oats slightly on medium flame till you smell the good aroma and after cooling blend the Oats into a fine powder. We could also use it without roasting.
• Mix blended Oats with Ragi flour in a medium-sized bowl.
• Add grated Carrots, Onions. They give good texture and taste yummy.

• To this mixture, add Coriander leaves, Cumin seeds, a pinch of Hing/Asafoetida, freshly grated Ginger, and Salt to taste.

• By slowly adding Water or Buttermilk, mix all the ingredients well. The batter should be similar to that of Idly batter.
• Meanwhile, heat the appam pan. I generally like to use a traditional Stone Appam pan, which is safe (compared to Non-Stick pan) and pops out the appam with ease without sticking.

• Once the pan is hot enough, pour a single 2-3 drops of Ghee (Homemade) into pits.
• Pour a ladle of batter into pits and allow them to cook, by placing a lid, for least 1-2 min or until they turn light brown in color.
• Gently turn the appams to the other side and allow them to cook for another min.

• Once they become golden brown on both sides, switch off the flame and pop them out.

Instant, Hot & Healthy appams are ready, serve your family with any kind of chutney/pickle. I prefer to have them with Tomato Mint chutney.

Swapna Kulkarni

Swapna has undertaken multiple research works & wrote research papers in the field of Microbiology and Health Care. She is a “People’s Person” with her skills she always motivates, encourages others. She is a self-starter proactively takes responsibilities, passionate about exploring new areas of work. She likes to travel and explore new places. Excited about cooking, and loves to spend time with children.