A quintessential Indo-Chinese appetiser, chilli chicken is a spicy, tangy dish where cornflour is used to coat chicken that is then fried with vegetables and soy sauce. This version, comprising ragi flour, is just as delicious.
A fermented, porridge-like ragi drink offers more than just succour on a hot summer’s day. For most communities in Tamil Nadu, it is a means of sustenance. For Valli, it tastes best when had with leftover fish curry.
This Tibetan comfort food—steamed, fried, or somewhere in between—can be stuffed with meat or vegetables, and is usually served with a fiery tomato chutney. Here, the conventional maida is swapped for ragi and rice flour to make the dough.
For farmers working in proximity with forested areas, cultivating food crops is fraught with conflict. But a community led initiative is now trying to safeguard both—local farms in southern India’s ragi growing belt as well as wild elephants who can’t get enough of the tasty millet.
Sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet flours are combined to make this wholesome dish, with recipes for cucumber-tomato sabji, and chilli pickle that pair perfectly with it.
This recipe has been documented for The Locavore by Shabnam Afrien of Odisha Millets Mission (OMM). A flagship programme of the government of Odisha, OMM was launched in 2017 to improve the nutrition of tribal communities in Odisha through revival of millets in farming and their diets.