Ragi Biscuits

There has been a long silence on my blog. But that's with a reason. There has been a lot going on in the past few days. Remember I told you how I was caught between making productive decisions, weighing out their pros and cons and hoping for the best. A lot got sorted and matters did get clearer with time. I feel a lot better. There was a lucrative offer that I turned down unwillingly for a good reason. Instead, the daughter and I planned an overseas travel to join my husband for a holiday. It seemed dicey initially, but all fell in right place, the right time and we did travel as intended. So there was packing and unpacking, unsettling and re-setting, the jet-lag and weather change, an adaptation to a new country, a new home and new kitchen.

It's taken time to get into grooves of routine in a new place where I am vacationing for 3 long months. For these months, I am on a sabbatical from work, devoting my time wholly to the family; my husband and daughter. I had been looking forward to this personal time and space for a long time, particularly to spend some quality time with my growing daughter, hence this break was thoughtful one and a big welcome. Three months may be a too short period to justify the time spent, yet I wish to make every use of this and enjoy her company.

My recipe post for today and, may be, for next couple of weeks comes from my kitchen in India. In a bid to wrap up the pantry staples and close the kitchen before we moved out, I consumed the last batch of Ragi (Finger Millet Flour) to bake these biscuits. These Ragi biscuits (as they are commonly referred to in Indian bakeries) are gluten-free and delicious. If you are not gluten intolerant you may consider using equal qualities of millet and all purpose flour for easier handling. They are simple to make and easy to put together. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Ragi Biscuits

2 cups finger millet flour (ragi flour)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup clarified butter (desi ghee)
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
1 tsp. baking powder

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven at 180 C.

Roast ragi flour in a thick bottomed pan / kadai on a medium low heat, for about 5-10 mins till the raw smell goes away. Take off the heat and add the powdered sugar, melted ghee, baking powder and cardamom powder to it. Mix well.

Make small balls of the dough and keep it on a greased or (lined with parchment paper) baking tray. Poke an almond each into the biscuit dough. Bake at 180 C for 12 minutes. Allow them to cool completely. Store in a cool dry place.

Notes:

* Roasting Ragi is very essential, else you will end up with muddy tasting, flavourless biscuits.
* Instead of cardamom powder, you may flavor them with vanilla seed powder.
* These biscuits are quite delicate since ragi flour does not have gluten in them. If you are not particular about being gluten free, you can substitute half of the ragi flour with whole wheat flour and bake as suggested.
* These biscuits are quite nutrition and can be fed to kids as a snack box item.