Hand-pounded date and almond bites rolled in coconut, dark with toasted ragi and warm with cardamom and a scrape of nutmeg.
Ingredients
From the TrooFoodz pantry
- Sprouted Ragi Flour ⅔ cup
Fresh
- Medjool dates, pitted 250 g
- Almonds 1 cup
- Almond butter 2 tbsp
- Desiccated coconut, for rolling 5 tbsp
- Cardamom powder ¾ tsp
- Nutmeg, freshly grated a scrape
- Salt a pinch
Method
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Toast the almonds
Roast the almonds in a dry pan for six minutes until the skins darken and one snapped in half is pale gold through the middle. Cool, then chop coarsely by knife.
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Warm the ragi
Stir Sprouted Ragi Flour in the same pan over the lowest heat for two minutes, only until the raw smell lifts. It scorches quickly, so keep the spatula moving.
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Pound the dates
Work the dates in a mortar, or knead them on a board, until they collapse into a smooth, elastic paste. Soak them five minutes in warm water first only if they feel dry.
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Knead the dough
Add almond butter, cardamom, nutmeg and salt to the paste, then work the cooled ragi flour in by hand until the mixture is uniform and no longer tacky.
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Add the almonds
Fold the chopped almonds through last, keeping the pieces coarse so each bite has a proper crunch against the soft date.
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Roll in coconut
Shape into small rounds, press hard so they hold, and roll through the desiccated coconut.
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Rest to firm
Leave thirty minutes at room temperature before packing. Nothing but the dates sweetens these.
Why this works
Dates carry enough natural sugar and pectin to bind on their own once pounded to a paste, so no syrup or added sweetener is needed. Ragi flour absorbs the surface moisture that would otherwise make the bites sticky, and a very brief toasting is enough to lose the raw taste without pushing the flour into bitterness.
Make it your own
- Almonds → Pistachios Greener, sweeter and softer in the bite.
- Sprouted Ragi Flour → Sprouted Foxtail Millet Flour Lighter colour and a cleaner, less malty finish.
- Desiccated coconut → Toasted sesame seeds Nuttier coating with a slight bitterness.
