After all the lengthy discussions that took place on the cereal, which brought out the benefits of including this tiny seed in our diet, I came across the following recipe in Maria Teresa Menezes' book:
"Merenda de Nachini (Ragi Merenda) 1 cup ragi flour, 3 cups water, a pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi), ground, 1 1/2 cup palm jaggery, 2 cups milk extracted from 1 large ground coconut, Powdered seeds of 2 green cardamoms. Mix ragi flour with water and allow to soak for one hour. Place in a pan with salt and cook over low heat stirring constantly to prevent lumps forming. Add fenugreek seeds and continue cooking till mixture thickens. Add grated jaggery and coconut milk. Continue cooking over low heat for another 3 - 5 minutes. Stir in cardamom powder and serve warm." I am sure the above should be given to the school children. In case of adults or senior citizens, perhaps the coconut milk should be replaced by cow's milk for health reasons. I remember that my mother was given the ragi tisan, every morning, at canji time, when she was bed ridden. The good women who lovingly looked after her always made it with freshly soaked ragi and then ground. I also remember having had both, "ambil" and "bhakri" of ragi during war time when there was shortage of wheat and rice was rationed. We had, pickles or dried fish to go with "ambil", just as we do with canji. By the way, for those who may not know the word "merenda" or "merend" I would say that it is any sweet dish prepared to be eaten at tea time. I say sweet dish because I am not sure if other items suchs as "bojes", etc can be considered as "merend". Does any one remember the yelllow and red flowers that bloom in the afternoons, around 5 o'clok. They were known as "merendas". Do they still call them by that name? I know I will get a reply from our netters. Regards Livia _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
