Thick, soft-centred ragi pancake with onion, tomato and chilli pressed into the top, griddled until the base goes deep and crusty.
Ingredients
From the TrooFoodz pantry
- Sprouted Ragi Flour 1½ cups
Fresh
- Semolina (rava) ½ cup
- Thick curd ¾ cup
- Onion, finely chopped 1
- Tomato, deseeded and chopped 1
- Green chillies, finely chopped 2
- Carrot, grated ½ cup
- Coriander leaves, chopped 3 tbsp
- Fruit salt or baking soda ½ tsp
- Sesame oil 3 tbsp
- Salt to taste
Method
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Whisk the batter
Combine Sprouted Ragi Flour, semolina, curd, salt and water into a thick batter that falls off the ladle in a slow ribbon.
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Rest to swell
Leave it twenty minutes so the semolina hydrates and the ragi loses its raw grittiness. Loosen with a little water if it tightens.
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Chop the topping
Toss the onion, tomato, chilli, carrot and coriander together in a bowl so they spread evenly rather than clumping.
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Activate and pour
Stir in the fruit salt just before cooking, then ladle a thick round onto a medium-hot tawa without spreading it thin.
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Press the vegetables
Scatter the topping over the wet surface and press down lightly with the back of the ladle so it anchors into the batter.
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Cook slow, flip once
Drizzle oil around the edge and cook on medium for three to four minutes until the base is crusted, then flip and give it two minutes.
Why this works
Curd supplies both acidity and moisture: the acid reacts with the fruit salt for lift, and the liquid keeps the interior custardy under a hard-seared base. Cooking slower than a dosa lets the thick centre set before the outside burns. Pressing the vegetables in while the batter is still raw fuses them to the pancake so they do not slide off at the flip.
Make it your own
- Sprouted Ragi Flour → Sprouted Foxtail Millet Flour Lighter and paler, holds an even firmer edge.
- Curd → Coconut milk with 1 tsp lemon juice Dairy-free; the acid still activates the fruit salt.
- Fruit salt → ¼ tsp baking soda plus a squeeze of lemon Same lift, slightly slower to rise.
