Soft ragi roti with beetroot
Ragi roti/Ragi rotti is a nutritious flatbread from the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Prepared using finger millet flour and lots of vegetables, it can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Ragi/nachni, also known as finger millet is a cereal grain from Asia and Africa. Ragi is deep rooted in Indian food culture. In dry, arid regions of India, finger millet has been grown and eaten for centuries. Ragi porridge made from sprouted ragi flour is a popular baby food in India. It is also used to make milk drinks and even desserts!
Ragi flour is whole grain and gluten-free. It is also a very good source of dietary calcium. Ragi has a very earthy taste, which may be an acquired taste to many. This ragi rotti recipe with grated beetroot and onions and herbs, makes it easy on the palate and is a great way to start incorporating this healthy grain in your meals.
As ragi is gluten-free, the dough cannot be rolled out easily like a dough made using wheat flour. This is a Karnataka style ragi rotti and the soft dough is spread on parchment paper/banana leaf by patting the dough with fingers. The dough should be soft and easily flatten.
Ingredients
Ragi flour
Ragi flour is easily available in Indian grocery stores and is naturally gluten free. Don’t confuse it with ‘roasted ragi flour’ which is prepared by powdering roasted ragi. Roasted ragi flour is used to make breakfast porridge and drinks. Ragi roti is made with unroasted ragi flour, which is simply labelled as Ragi flour/ Finger millet flour. However if you already have roasted ragi flour, you could definitely try making ragi rotti using it.
Vegetables & Herbs
- Beetroot – Both golden/yellow beets and red beets work great in this recipe.
- Onions – Finely chopped onions add a lot of flavour.
- Herbs – Coriander leaves/cilantro is easily available. If available, curry leaves can be added too. Dill leaves can also be used.
- Coconut – Adding fresh or dry desiccated coconut adds flavour.
- Sesame seeds – Toasted sesame seeds provide a nutty flavour.
Tips
How to make ragi roti soft?
1. Use hot water to make the dough.
2. Usage of right amount of water, dough should not be hard/dry. It should have more water content than a chapati dough and you should easily be able to flatten the dough thin by patting on it.
3. Pat the rotti as thin as possible, this will make it cook quickly. The longer the rotti is cooked, the dryer it gets.
4. In my experience, covering the rotti after placing it on the tava makes it softer.
Serving ragi roti
This Karnataka style ragi roti is flavourful on it’s own, it doesn’t need any sides. However here are some serving suggestions.
- Serve with soft butter and sugar. Yum!
- Serve with honey.
- Serve with a coconut chutney.
If you are looking to include different grains in your diet check out my barley dosa and millet curd rice recipes!
Soft ragi roti with beetroot
Ingredients
- 1 cup ragi flour nachni/finger millet flour
- ¾ cup water
- 1 cup beetroot grated
- 1½ tbsp sesame seeds (ellu/til) toasted
- ¼ cup grated coconut
- ⅓ cup onions finely chopped
- ¼ cup coriander leaves/cilantro finely chopped
- 2 springs curry leaves optional
- green chillies finely minced as needed
- 3 tsp butter/ghee/oil
Instructions
- Toast sesame seeds on medium heat until golden.
- Add the water into a saucepan and set it on heat to boil.
- Add all the ingredients except water and oil into a bowl and mix well.
- Add boiling water into the mixture and mix well using a spoon. When warm enough to handle, mix well with hands, so no dry bits remain. The dough has to be softer than chapati dough and not dry. Add another tablespoon of water if it looks dry.
- Set a griddle/tava to heat on medium heat.
- Grease a paper parchment/banana leaf with ghee/oil.
- Place a portion of the dough in the center of the parchment paper and pat on it using fingers joined together, like shown in the picture. Move from the center to the sides, making the rotti as thin as possible. Smoothen the edges/sides of rotti as you pat.
- Grease the tava/griddle. Take the patted rotti along with the parchment paper/banana leaf and invert it over the heated griddle, rotti side down, with rotti touching the tava and the parchment covering it. Cover with a lid and cook for 30 seconds.
- Remove the lid and carefully peel away the parchment/banana leaf from top.Note: if it's not easily releasing/if rotti is still sticking to parchment, cook for 15 more seconds and try again.
- Flip the rotti to cook the other side. Cook for 30 more seconds. NOTE: Cooking time depends on the thickness of roti. I make mine very thin.
- Next, flip it one more time and cook until done (approx another 30 seconds) Spread ghee/oil on rotti.
- Serve hot with butter/honey/chutney or enjoy on it's own.
Notes
- Use hot water like mentioned.
- Do not reduce the quantity of vegetables.
- Dough should be soft and easy to pat and spread, softer than chapati dough.
- Pat rotti as thin as possible. Thin rottis cook faster and hence remain soft. Longer it is cooked, harder it can get.
- For a vegan version use oil/vegan butter instead of dairy ghee/butter.
Did you try this recipe?
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Thank you so much for stopping by! It really means a lot to me!
A video is so much easier faster and quicker to follow than just reading it! I normally only follow video recipes.
Please post a video for your recipe.
Thank you for the recommendation! I will work on making a video for this recipe. Pls do check the other videos I have on the blog, I hope you like them 🙂