Oorimindi and Ragi Mudda

Okay here I am with the first recipe for the dashboard, and I thought what better dish than the one and only Ragi Mudda/Sangati and to go with it Oorimindi/Chenigginjala Chutney urf Peanut chutney, would be the best. Ragi or the Finger Millet is one crop that is grown well in the area, and many delicious foods can be prepared from the Ragi flour made from the grains. Whether it is Ragi rotti, or Ragi Mudda, Ragi Halwa, or even to that matter the simple Ganji, any thing that is made from Ragulu is delicious and at the same time healthy. Given the high fibrous nature of Ragi, it is recommended for diabetic patients to substitute rice. Also it is highly recommended for infants and toddlers due to its rich nutritive values. Infact my mom used to give us Ragi ganji up until we were ready to leave for higher studies. And especially in summer it’s the best drink because of its cooling properties (Chalava chese gunam). Medicinal properties aside, ragi is mainly remembered for the tasty dish Mudda. Also known as Mudde in Karnataka (slight variations in this version), Ragi mudda or Sangati can be eaten with anything literally, but in villages the farmer’s brunch usually includes Sangati with Oorimindi. Just one round big mudda with oorimindi, is something that can light up your moods. Believe me it is so filling, that the brunch would be good enough up until the evening when they usually come back from the farm. But again I didnot actually live in our village, but in a small and beautiful town four hours away. when we used to eat it on Sundays especially, we gave my mom some peace of mind for atleast that part of the day. Coz we would doze off however hard we tried to stay awake. Hmm.. I always love the days when we were at our grandmas place, and we would take Sangati along with some curry or chutney to the farm, swim and play in the digudu bavulu ( wells) and then come out so hungry that we could eat a couple of muddas. Okay I know this is still my first recipe yet, and I am already delving into memories and all, so I will continue with the actual recipe for both Sangati and Oorimindi now.

Oorimindi (for 4 people)
Peanuts/ Chenigginjalu - 1 cup
Red Chillies - 9-10 if using green chillies 6-7
Tamarind - size of a small tamarind
Onion - 1/4 of a big
one Cilantro - fistful
Oil - 1/4 tsp
Jaggery - just a bit
Salt - to taste
Usually we would all have peanuts already fried, but if not just dry fry the peanuts until they are slightly brown. In the same skillet add the oil just enough for frying the chillies and fry them for about a minute. Soak the tamarind in water. Cut the onion into big chunks. In a blender or mixie if you have one, grind the peanuts chillies, tamarind with a little bit of water. When the ingredients are all finely ground, add the jaggery, salt, and grind it once more. Finally add the cilantro, onion chunks and just push the button for 2 seconds. Now you should still have the onion chunks in the chutney so that you can feel them in every bite.

Now to the Sangati part

Rice - 11/2 cups
Water - 4 cups
Ragi flour - 3 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp

Boil rice in a thick bottomed vessel, until its very soft (you can add the salt some where in between). Now when its almost done add the ragi flour on top and wait for 2 minutes (even when the rice is all cooked you should still see some starchy water in the rice) Now with a sturdy spatula or with the traditional pappu gitti (I use the long stick part) mix the rice with the flour really well that you should not see any lumps what so ever. When you feel that it’s all mixed take the vessel off from the stove. Take a small portion of the sangati, put it on a wet cloth, wet your hands with cold water, make it into a ball, to get the perfect shape use the cloth. By moving the cloth around the ball, it makes it easy to handle the piping hot ragi mudda. You can make atleast 4 muddas/balls out of the rice. Once ragi muddas are made just leave them in the vessel with the damp cloth on them. But if you donot want to take the trouble of making the rice into balls, you can always just have the mixed up sangati.
But believe me the fun part is making the ragi ball.

So just go on and taste the hot ragi mudda with the oorimindi, once you have it in your mouth you will definitely know what I have been talking about. It has been a rainy day and the combination of sangati and chutney was the perfect lunch for the day. Hope you all would try them sometime!! Will be back with another seema dish pretty soon!