Panjipullu Kurukku | Ragi Porridge | Ragi Healthy Drink

Panjipullu Kurukku is a healthy drink that mom used to feed us as infants and then it was given to my kids too as weaning food. In our time, she used to grind the ragi on ammikallu( grinding stone) instead of mixer. Ragi is a super coolant and in summer its super healthy to have this. Ragi improves bone strength, helps in weight loss and controls blood sugar. It is a super pack of energy. I make this once a week for my kids and they love it. When they were infants I used to give them every alternate day along with kaya podi kurukku or multigrain powder kurukku. Palm jaggery is more healthier to add when serving infants. However for elders you can add a pinch of salt or reduce the amount of sugar and serve. Do try this out if you haven't made yet and enjoy !

Soaking time ~ 6 hours 
Preparation time ~ 10 minutes
Cooking time ~ 5 minutes
Author ~ Julie
Ingredients
panjipullu / ragi 1/3 cup
water 3 cups
*milk 1 cup
* sugar 2-3 tbsp

Method

• Wash and soak the ragi(panjipullu) for 5-6 hours or overnight( remove any impurities like small stones, I generally buy the cleaned packet so don't generally do this step).
• Grind this ragi by adding half cup water. Strain the ragi mixture in a fine sieve or use cheese cloth to get only the milky white liquid. Add the residue to the blender jar once again and grind again adding half cup fresh water. Strain once again and squeeze out the milk completely to leave behind the brown portion of ragi or the husk(you may throw that out).

• To the strained milk, add 2 more cups of water and 1 cup milk to make it 4 cups. Add sugar as per your taste buds. I used about 2 1/2 tbsp of sugar.
• Bring this mixture to a rolling boil on medium flame by continuously stirring else it may stick to the bottom of the pan and get burnt. This mixture thickens as it gets cooked, it may take 3 minutes after boiling to get cooked. Switch of flame and serve warm. This is a drinking like  or a thin custard like consistency, you may use 1/2 cup ragi if you plan to have more thicker version of this. My kids don't like the thick version and so I make it this way.

NOTES

* You can increase the quantity of  milk and use milk : water in the ratio of 1:1. However, I refrain from doing that due to kids allergies.

* I have added boiled milk in this porridge.

* You may add cardamom powder,fried cashews and raisins to this kurukku when serving older kids. But don't use when serving infants.

* You can use palm jaggery when giving for infants which is more healthier than sugar. I have used regular sugar.
* You can add some portion of the brown outer cover of ragi when grinding but here my kids love it this way so I generally refrain from adding.
* You may add thin coconut milk instead of whole milk too to make the porridge.