Ragi porridge
Preparation Time
5 minutes
Cooking Time
12 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Breakfast
Serves 2
Key Ingredients
- Ragi (finger millet) flour, sprouted if it is for a baby
About This Recipe
Ragi porridge is the plainest thing made from ragi and one that many homes in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Kerala grew up on: ragi kanji in the morning, ragi ganji for an elder who wants something light, a bowl of soft ragi for the baby who has just started solids. It needs only flour, water and a spoon, and it is ready in about 15 minutes.
The method matters more than it looks. Ragi flour has to be started in cold water and poured into hot, or it lumps, and it has to keep cooking for six or seven minutes in all, well after it first thickens, or it tastes raw and chalky. Done right it is glossy, dark and smooth, with a mild, earthy sweetness that takes jaggery or salt equally well.
For babies, many South Indian homes use sprouted ragi flour and serve the porridge plain and lukewarm, starting soon after six months and after your paediatrician's advice. ICMR-NIN advises soft, semi-solid first foods rather than watery ones, and no added sugar before age two, so this recipe takes the baby's spoonfuls out of the pan before anything is added and one pot still feeds the house. Swap the jaggery for mashed dates, or the buttermilk for curd, and it still works; for a richer adult bowl, stir in warm milk after the baby's portion is out.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Base (for 2 bowls)
- Ragi (finger millet) flour, sprouted if it is for a baby — 6 tbsp
- Water — 2 1/2 cups
Sweet way (for 2 bowls)
- Jaggery powder — 2 tbsp
- Ghee — 2 tsp
- Cardamom Powder — 1 pinch
- Milk, optional — 1/2 cup
Savoury way, ragi kanji (for 2 bowls)
- Salt — 1/4 tsp
- Sour buttermilk — 1/2 cup
For a baby (6 months and older)
- Warm water, breastmilk or formula, to loosen the plain portion — 2 tbsp
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Serving Suggestions
Sweet ragi porridge is a breakfast on its own; top it with chopped banana, a few crushed groundnuts or a spoon of grated coconut. The savoury ragi kanji with buttermilk is a light lunch or a hot-weather supper, with a papad and a little pickle on the side. For a baby, serve the plain portion lukewarm from a small katori, a spoon at a time. The ragi recipes roundup has more breakfasts made with this flour.
Tips for Cooking Ragi porridge
Use a heavy saucepan and a low flame once the slurry is in; ragi sticks and scorches in a thin pan. For a thicker bowl, use 8 tablespoons of flour to the same water; with 4 you are close to a ragi malt to drink. Ragi sets as it cools, so loosen leftovers with hot water or milk as you reheat them.
Chef’s Note
Plain ragi flour is fine for the adult bowls; if the porridge is mainly for a baby, sprouted flour gives a paler, milder bowl. One adult bowl of the sweet way, with its jaggery and ghee, comes to about 170 kcal, 2.5 g fibre and 98 mg calcium; the plain base in it is about 72 kcal.
Per serving (approx.): 170 kcal, protein 1.9 g, carbs 28 g, fat 5.5 g, fibre 2.5 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jul 26, 2026
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