Finger millet / ragi

Eleusine coracana

grain

Small red-brown grains of an East African cereal, very rich in calcium; ground into flour for the porridges, flatbreads and dosas of southern India. They provide iron and fibre.

Origin

Highlands of Ethiopia and Uganda

Season (United States)

all year round

Preparation

Mostly eaten as flour: mixed with water and cooked for a few minutes into porridge, or made into flatbreads, dosas and dumplings (ragi mudde); as whole grains, it cooks for 20 to 30 minutes. Soaking, sprouting or sourdough bring its phytates down — and release the zinc and iron they were holding.

Molecules

Resistant starch RS1 · Plant iron · Insoluble fibersIn small amounts, not counted Arabinoxylans · CalciumWhat slows things down Phytates

Did you know?

From East Africa, finger millet reached India about 3,000 years ago; it is ragi, also called red millet.