Ragi Mudde with Bassaru (Finger Millet Balls)

Ragi mudde is the traditional meal of rural Karnataka – and now a favourite of health-conscious city people too. Finger-millet flour is stirred into boiling water to make smooth, heavy balls. You pinch off a piece, dip it in bassaru (a thin lentil and greens curry) and swallow it without chewing.

Video by Hebbars Kitchen on YouTube. Our recipe below is our own home-style version, written in our own words – quantities and steps may differ from the video.

• Serves 4
• Prep 15 min
• Cook 40 min
• Vegan · gluten-free
• Famous in Karnataka

Ingredients

• For the mudde: 250 g ragi flour, 600 ml water, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp ghee
• For the bassaru: 100 g toor dal, 200 g greens (spinach, dill or amaranth), 1 tbsp tamarind paste, 2 tsp rasam or sambar powder, ½ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp oil, ½ tsp mustard seeds, 10 curry leaves, 3 garlic cloves crushed

Method

1. For the bassaru, cook toor dal and greens with turmeric in 700 ml water until soft. Strain: keep the liquid, and mash the dal-greens separately (eat it as palya).
2. Boil the liquid with tamarind, rasam powder and salt for 5 minutes. Fry mustard seeds, curry leaves and garlic in oil and pour over.
3. For the mudde, bring the water with salt and ghee to a rolling boil. Add the ragi flour in a heap in the middle – do not stir. Cover and cook on low for 3–4 minutes.
4. Now stir vigorously with a wooden spoon (traditionally a 'mudde kolu') for 3–4 minutes until smooth with no lumps. Cover and steam 2 more minutes.
5. With wet hands, shape into 4 smooth balls and serve hot in a pool of bassaru.

Tip: Put the flour in without stirring and let the steam cook it first – that's the trick for lump-free mudde.

Shop the ingredients

Everything you need for this recipe is in stock at Farmah’s – order online or pick it up at Annenstraße 41, Graz.