Areva Nachani/Ragi/Nagali (Finger Millet) is an extremely nutritious millet, that resembles mustard seeds in appearance. Finger millet is especially valuable as it contains the amino acid methionine, which is lacking in the diets of the poor who live on starchy staples such as cassava, platain, polished rice or maize meal. A grain rich in protein, calcium, fibre and icon, ragi has traditionally been used across the world in varied food products. The hull of the ragi grain is indigestible and therefore the grain is usually hulled before use. This process does not remove or damage the germ, and hence the nutritional content is not lost. The grain is then used as it, decorticated, ground into flour, or malted and ground into flour, which is used to make porridge, laddoo and some savoury snacks too.
Realising its health benefits, nowadays people have started mixing ragi with other grains like rice and wheat for preparing traditional dishes like idli, upma and rotis.
