Ragi porridge for babies, Learn how to make Ragi porridge for babies and toddlers. Ragi porridge also known as ragi malt, ragi kanji is approved baby first food stage one solid foods. It is packed with nutrients which is good for babies bone health. Learn how to make baby first food ragi porridge three ways using fresh ragi as well as ragi porridge made with ragi flour with step by step pictures and video.
Ragi Porridge for Babies
Ragi is such a nutritional food for babies. It has high amount of protein, calcium and minerals, lots of iron and a good mix of amino acids. It is a complete wonder food for babies. So as my second solid food after my Apple Sauce, i thought of introducing my daughter ragi.
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About Ragi Porridge for Babies
I was totally confused whether to give ragi porridge made with fresh ragi or make homemade sprouted ragi flour because it is more convenient. Amma suggested to give fresh ragi porridge made from ragi milk. It is a long process, first you have to soak ragi, grind, extract ragi milk from it and cook. Every other night I used to soak ½ cup of fresh ragi and make ragi porridge. I did this during first stage of feeding solid, say the entire 6 months.
Later I made homemade sprouted ragi powder for babies. It is more convenient and time saving. Making ragi porridge from ragi flour is easy and very healthy too. When I travel, I carry my instant ragi porridge mix which involves no cooking at all. I have shared all three versions of making ragi porridge for babies in this blog post.
Ragi | Finger millet
Ragi has tons of health benefits. Specially for babies, toddlers and kids. It is rich in calcium which is important to add in your babies diet. Even as an adult we consume ragi malt and my health mix which has ragi often.
Ragi porridge for babies is made using fresh ragi grains. First method uses fresh ragi which is soaked and milk is extracted and cooked. Ragi grains is allowed to sprout for more nutrients. Below is a picture of ragi grain in raw form and soaked.
Ragi Porridge using Fresh Ragi
This recipe for ragi porridge made from fresh ragi is great for stage one baby food. It is advisable to start solids for babies from 6 month. Ragi is great first food for babies along with apples, carrots. It is recommended to make ragi porridge using ragi milk for the first few weeks of solids. Since porridge made from ragi milk is healthy and light since it doesn't has the whole ragi grains which might be hard for babies to digest.
1)I use ½ cup of ragi to make a good bowl of ragi porridge. You have to experiment on this measurement to know how much your baby can consume.
2)To make fresh ragi porridge. Start by washing fresh ragi by rubbing with your hands in lots and lots of water to get rid of dirt and other unwanted stuff.
3)Do this step at least 4 to 5 times to make sure that your ragi is absolutely clean.
4)Soak ragi in fresh clean water overnight.
5)Next morning strain them and take it in a blender.
6)Add some boiled and cooled clean water to grind them to a smooth paste.
7)Take a clean saucepan, line them with a clean white cloth. Pour the pureed ragi over the cloth and let it drain.
8)Squeeze with your hands so all the milk has been extracted from ragi.
9)Now take the sauce pan to stove and start cooking on low flame. if it is too thick you can add some water.
10)Cook them for 5 to 6 mins till the porridge is cooked and has become thick. You can add any sweetener as you prefer like jaggery, palm candy.
11)Now let them cool to warm, pour the porridge in sterilized bowl and feed your baby.
Ragi Porridge with Ragi Flour
Ragi Porridge using Homemade Ragi Powder is more convenient, efficient and time consuming. Make a batch of my homemade sprouted ragi flour and you can make porridge easily any time.
Ingredients
- Homemade Ragi Porridge - 1 tbsp
- Karupatti - 2 tbsp
- Water - ¾ cup
How to Make Ragi Porridge with Ragi Flour
1)I used my homemade sprouted ragi flour.
2)This is my sweetener. I used karupatti. This is how I made it. Take a saucepan, add in 2 tbsp of karupatti. Now pour in ¾ cup of clean water. Heat this up and cook until the karupatti is melted. Take a clean bowl and a fine mesh strainer. Sieve the liquid through this. This is your karupatti liquid.
3)Now add a tbsp of homemade ragi powder in the liquid and mix well so no lumps are formed.
4)Now pour this liquid in the saucepan and cook. Keep mixing constantly. It will get thick in 3 to 4 minutes.
5)Once thickened. Take it off the heat, allow it to cool down and transfer it to feeding bowl or feeding bottle and feed your baby.
Instant Ragi Porridge Mix (No Cooking Required)
Instant Ragi Porridge Mix are great to have handy when travelling, since they require no cooking you can just add some milk or water and feed your baby. I am sure you will be feeling so happy when you feed your baby with these instead of the packaged stuffs.
Ingredients
- Ragi Flour / Fingermillet flour - 1 cup
- Rock Sugar | Palm candy or Panakarkandu - ½ cup
- Ghee or Melted Butter - ¼ cup
- Milk or Water - 2 tbsp
How to Make Instant Ragi Porridge Mix
1)Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Take palm candy in a blender and powder fine and set aside. Take ragi flour in a dry pan and roast it on low heat for 5 to 6 mins till the raw smell leaves from it.
2)take roasted ragi flour in a bowl.
3)Add in powdered palm candy.
4)Add in melted butter or ghee. Mix it really well with the ragi flour and sugar.
5)Add water and form a dough.
6)Ragi cookie dough is ready.
7)Now roll the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap.
8)Trim of the egdes and cut into squares.
9)Remove it carefully using a spatula and place on a foil lined baking sheet.
10)Bake it for 15 to 18 mins till golden. It will be soft when you take from oven, it will harden as it cools down. Let it cool completely.
11)Now take the cooled biscuits in a blender and powder finely.
12)This is your instant ragi porridge mix.
13)For making instant ragi porridge. Take 1 tbsp of the instant ragi powder in a bowl.
14)Pour hot water or hot milk. mix well so it thickens.
15)Serve.
Expert Tips
Ragi is very healthy for babies, it is filling and help your baby gain weight in a healthy way. Few things you have to remember before making this.
Consistency of porridge
The consistency of the porridge which you make totally depends on you. You can make it runny and pour it bottles and feed your baby or make it little thicker and feed your baby using a spoon.
Sweetener
I use panakarkandu, palm candy or karupatti as sweetener. I take a small piece of karupatti or a piece of panakarkandu in a saucepan, add some water in it and heat it up till it is melted. Then i strain that and add it to ragi milk and cook them together. Karupatti strengthens your baby bones. Panakarkandu helps preventing cold for your babies. You can even mix up a small piece of both.
Cooking
4)Cook ragi properly. If you didn't cook it properly, it may cause constipation. Many people say ragi may cause constipation. But I have been feeding this to my baby from 6 months, I had no issues so far.
Frequently Asked Questions
1)Why are you sprouting ragi?
Ragi with skins are little hard for digestion. So sprouting the ragi will make it easier to digest. And also sprouted grains are more healthy and nutritious for your baby.
2)Is it necessary to store ragi flour in fridge?
I recommend you to store ragi in fridge. Because i am scary cat of handling homemade stuff. I always have concern that homemade stuff should be always be handled carefully because it can get spoiled so easily. So i always keep homemade powder, masala, pickles, jams in fridge to make sure it is always fresh.
More Baby Food Recipes
📖 Recipe Card
Ragi Porridge Recipe for Babies | How to Make Ragi Porridge
Equipment
- Cooking pot
Ingredients
Ragi Porridge from Fresh Ragi
- ½ cup Ragi
Ragi Porridge with Sprouted Ragi Flour
- 1 tbsp Homemade Sprouted Ragi Powder
- 1 tbsp Karupatti | Palm sugar | jaggery
- ¾ cup Water
Instant Ragi Porridge Mix
- 1 cup Ragi Flour | Finger millet flour
- ½ cup Rock Sugar | Palm candy or Panakarkandu
- ¼ cup Ghee or Melted Butter
- 2 tbsp Milk or Water
Instructions
Ragi Porridge with Fresh Ragi
- I use ½ cup of ragi to make a good bowl of ragi porridge. You have to experiment on this measurement to know how much your baby can consume.
- To make fresh ragi porridge. Start by washing fresh ragi by rubbing with your hands in lots and lots of water to get rid of dirt and other unwanted stuff. Do this step at least 4 to 5 times to make sure that your ragi is absolutely clean.
- Now soak them in fresh clean water overnight.
- Next Morning, drain them and take them in a blender. Add some boiled and cooled clean water to grind them to a smooth paste.
- Take a clean saucepan, line them with a clean white cloth. Pour the pureed ragi over the cloth and let it drain. Squeeze with your hands so all the milk has been extracted from ragi.
- Now take the sauce pan to stove and start cooking on low flame. if it is too thick you can add some water. Cook them for 5 to 6 mins till the porridge is cooked and has become thick.
- Now take them off the stove and add some sugar to taste. You can add whatever sweetener you use. I use Panakarkandu or Karupatti. Now let them get warm, pour the porridge in sterilized bowl and feed your baby.
Ragi Porridge with Sprouted Ragi Flour
- Take a clean saucepan, add in 2 tbsp of karupatti. Now pour in ¾ cup of clean water. Heat this up and cook until the karupatti is melted. Take a clean bowl and a fine mesh strainer. Sieve the liquid through this, cool it down. Now add a tbsp of homemade ragi powder in the liquid and mix well so no lumps are formed.
- Now pour this liquid again through the sieve in the saucepan. Heat this on a low flame stirring continuously. Cook this for around 4 to 5 mins till the ragi is cooked and thicken.
- Take it off the heat, allow it to cool down and transfer it to feeding bowl or feeding bottle and feed your baby.
Instant Ragi Porridge Mix
- Preheat oven to 180 degree C. Take palm candy in a blender and powder fine and set aside. Take ragi flour in a dry pan and roast it on low heat for 5 to 6 mins till the raw smell leaves from it.
- Take all ingredients in a bowl and knead to a dough. Add milk or water if needed.
- Now roll this between two sheets of plastic wrap. Trim off the edges and cut into squares. Remove it carefully using a spatula and place on a foil lined baking sheet.
- Bake it for 15 to 18 mins till golden. It will be soft when you take from oven, it will harden as it cools down. Let it cool completely. Take this in a blender and powder finely.
- Now for making cereal, take some powder in a bowl and add hot milk or water and mix till it reaches right texture.
Video
Notes
About Instant Ragi Porridge Mix
- This powder can be stored in room temp. But for safety purpose store it in fridge.
- You can take this while travelling.
- Instead of hot water or milk. You can use warm or cold water or milk.
- Start with little water or milk and add more as per the consistency needed,
- Instead of making powder, this can be given as biscuits too.
If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can.
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Soumya@Oishirecipes
Hi....cleaning ragi each time is a difficult process. Better one is to clean in a batch and dry it in the sunlight for three days and keep in a air tight container.
I have also made ragi porridge..see this link..http://oishirecipes.com/2013/11/ragifinger-millet-kurukku-muthari-kurukku-ragifinger-millet-porridge.html
Diviya
You can grind ragi in machine also ... After that remove unwanted things using dhoti.. place it in separate air tight container.. whenever s needed, you can take a sauce pan add some powder and some water/milk stirr continuously.. u then can feed babies
San
Sprouted ragi is even better as its easier to digest and much more nutritious..It can be done the same process as you have done, except roast the sprouted ragi and then powdering it to store for a long time..
Coral crue
awesome post. ragi is great for kids
shareatip
Hi. Great food for babies. As for karupatti vellam (blackstrap molasses), do you use palm jaggery (pana vellam) or sugarcane molasses jaggery? Cane jaggery is cooling while sugarcane jaggery causes heat, but both help release digestive enzymes.Which goes better with ragi?
Aarthi
@shareatipYou can use any, i used pana vellam
Madheeha Shanavas
Very useful ... Thanks for the detailed post 👍
resmi
Thanks for the detailed post
Anonymous
I am pediatrician... and we don't recommend sweeteners until the baby is atleast a year old!
Anonymous
But little jaggery or elachi can be used as sweetener na?
Unknown
Hi, i am feed my 6 month old baby witu mixed ragi,wheat,rice,roasted grAm,10 almonds in water. Is this good for my baby? Plz give reply?
Nandhini Raman
How many times a day you must feed this ragi I have a 6 month old baby. I started with first Rice kanji. Also please tell me how to Prepare that too. If u say add milk are u referring to breast milk?
Aarthi
@Nandhini Ramanyou can feed it 1 time a day..add cows milk for baby above 1 year
GM Dhand
Why do we need to strain the ragi after mixing in water?? Is it necessary to strain
Aarthi
@GM DhandYes straining is must, because it removes the grainy bits
!!Smita !!
Can I add formula to dis
Aarthi
@!!Smita !!U can add, but dont cook it..add after the ragi is cooled.
Nandhini Raman
Hi aarthi please post Rice kanji receipe..
!!Smita !!
When baby is having cold is it ok to feed ragi porridge
Aarthi
@!!Smita !!yes u can give
Revathipraveen
Thanks aarthi for your tips.... I have 5months old baby I used to give ragi porridge using lactogen and sugar for breakfast and dinner... After two weeks of using it, I thought giving natural and healthy diet so I dint mix lactogen in it.. I prepared it using water and panakarkandu.. But my baby got abdomen pain.. I don't know why.. Is there any reason for it?
Aarthi
@RevathipraveenDid u give something else other than ragi. it may be because of that.
Revathi praveen
is tat necessary to soak ragi overnight ?because I used to soak it only for 10min.. Is tat enough?
Aarthi
@Revathi praveenIf it grinds well then no issue, you can soak it for 10 mins.
Anonymous
Hello dear ones
my baby was born just starting on 9th month.she weights just 6 kg n is 8 months old.though she is active.bt very weak. Give me recipes to help her gain weight
Aarthi
@Anonymouscheck this link
https://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/2014/08/homemade-baby-food-recipes-weaning.html
Krupali Patel
Can we use direct ragi powder available in market ...for making porridge
Aarthi
@Krupali Patelyes u can
Sree Vinod
do we need to pour the ragi powder (bought it from market) after mixing it with water before cooking?
Aarthi
@Sree Vinodno need for straining
Gracy Joshua
Hi Aarthi my son 4 months old. Ragi powder or fresh Ragi which one is best?
Aarthi
@Gracy Joshuafresh ragi is always best
Anonymous
Ragi is gluten free hence good for babies from 5 months .they wil love it
Anonymous
Ragi is best for infants coz it's gluten free n easy to digest.
Anonymous
Thank you good recepie
Annapurna Sathineedi
Thank you for the post. Really nice one and my Kid love it. Please Post some more recipes with ragi for 2yrs kid
Thanks again
rekha
hi.
My baby is 6 months now.I want to know how much raggi I should take 4 soaking it.
Aarthi
@rekhayou can take 1/2 cup or so
Aarthi
@Anonymousyes u can use them
suba bharathi
Is there any other way to dry the ragi other than drying under the sun for 3 days.
Bcos I feel that's not safe and we can't keep on watching the drying ragi from insects
suba bharathi
.
Aarthi
@suba bharathiyou can dry it under fan
Anonymous
My baby is three and a half months old and my mother in law is feeding her ragi and wheat porridge...
Is it fine....please do reply....it's driving me crazy....
Aarthi
@Anonymousi dont suggest feeding solids to baby under 5 months atleast. Babies under 6 months should be given only breast milk.
Aarthi
@Anonymousi dont suggest feeding solids to baby under 5 months atleast. Babies under 6 months should be given only breast milk.
Aarthi
@Anonymousi dont suggest feeding solids to baby under 5 months atleast. Babies under 6 months should be given only breast milk.
jas
M6 baby is almost 6 months now .. got ready made ragi powder from d mart... so how do I cook it??with water or milk??
Also advise e me the frequency of formula milk,ragi and cereal please. I m a new mom...
Aarthi
@jascook it with water. check my feeding schedulehttp://mahamylife.blogspot.in/
shanthi
Hello ....my baby is 4 months and 3 days...what is the quantity I should give her? 1 spoon?
Aarthi
@shanthistart with just a tblspn..u just need few spoons
Shifa Shabeer
My son born on 31st May 2015 nw for him 5 months startd shall I give ragi for him as ur procedur pls help me
Aarthi
@Shifa Shabeerif u can you can wait for one more month and then give him ragi. else you can start it now itself. start with little portion
kasthuri inian
Hi akka can I give panam kalkand water to my three month baby?is it safe? He has a cold..:(
Anonymous
How much spoon ragi should I give for my 6 month old daughter.I juststarted external feeds.its been a week iam giving her other foods.
Aarthi
@kasthuri inianu can start giving those once your baby is above 5 or 6 months. 3 month is too early
Aarthi
@Anonymousjust a tblspn must be good..
Anonymous
My Kid is one year old and I used to mix formula milk(Lactogen) while cooking ragi. Now I heard that formula not added while cooking. Is it causes any problem to kid, plz reply me?
Aarthi
@Anonymousu should never cook formula. make ragi with water and once it cools down, add the prepared milk
dhara garg
Can I give rahi milk in the morning?
Aarthi
@dhara gargyes u can
Anonymous
Hi
Ragi and Jaggery is rich in iron and milk is rich in calcium. If you mix both it wont be utilised by the body.. So pls make sure not to add milk with ragi porridge...
Bharti Nalawade
Hey Aarti... Nice recipe but I m seeing it too late. My son will turn 2 yes. in may. Is there a way I can incorporate this in his meal. He eats rice n dal in lunch and roti mashed in milk in d evening
Aarthi
@Bharti Nalawadeu can give this in liquid form for breakfast
Unknown
Very nice... thanks a lot
Anonymous
Nice..thanks a lot aarthi
Anonymous
Thankyou sooooo much, recipe with picture helped me a lot, it cleared my confusion.
Unknown
Thank you so much for this recipe. My baby loved this recipe and its fresh making too.
anitha ykn
Hiii
I am a working mom with 6 months baby (in a week..she will turn 6).
Can I prepare ragi milk in the morning and cook them just before giving to baby..may be around 3PM??
Pls reply.
Aarthi
store in fridge then
Anonymous
Hi , am working mom - can we make Ragi milk in bulk n freeze it for later use
Aarthi
yes i think you can do that.
Diya
Thank you very much for this awesome recipe. I have tried this multiple times but I am yet to get the perfect consistency of the porridge like how you have shown. Either the final product is semi liquid. Or like jelly. Can you share your tip here pl
SJ
Thank you so much for the recipe. The details and the step by step pictures are very helpful for a beginner like me. I am working mom. Can I prepare this porridge in the morning, store it in fridge and warm after 3 hours to feed my baby. Please suggest.
Unknown
Pls tell me the recipe for making and storing it in bulk
Anonymous
Please don't add sugar.. Adding apple juice gives different taste. Also roast raagi add baadam popy seeds very little ajwain 10 pepper corns before making the powder
Anonymous
My daughter is 5 1/2 months now. I tried ragi porridge with karupatti added and she didn't like it. Shall I add salt instead of sugar.
Gayathri
Hi aarthi your recipes helps me a lot thank you so much.you said that if the ragi well cooked it will never cause constipation. But how to know ragi well cooked enough.plz reply.my son having constipation I m worried
Aarthi
it will take around 4 to 5 mins to cook ragi
Maheswari
How do you wash the cloth after filtering the kanji. Is washing with soap necessary or only hot water is enough?
Benita
Hello aarthi, once I take out the ragi milk, can I keep it in the fridge till the time I have to make it into a porridge for the baby ?
How much time can I keep in the fridge without it being spoiled?