Garlic Ragi Mathri ( With Fortune Vivo Dia-Care Oil )

Incessant snacking has always been an integral part of the long summer days. But between a fussy kid and a diabetic MIL, I am always running short of options. And it was yet another dreary summer afternoon when I sat scratching my head for striking the right balance between health and taste when the doorbell rang shattering my concentration. I opened the door to find the delivery boy standing with a huge 5 L canister of Fortune Vivo Diabetes Care Oil. The Blogadda guys had indeed send me a generous sample for the review. They have been thoughtful enough to provide a two month's supply of the oil. That is more than enough time to test the efficiency of the oil on any diabetic patient.

Given my habit of checking out the nutritional information for every single item that I purchase, I promptly turned the can to check out the constituents of this oil. Turned out that it is a blend of rice bran and sesame oil (in a 80-20 ratio). Now that had me impressed for both oils have known diabetes controlling properties. Especially sesame oil, which has been in the limelight recently due to its proven ability to control high blood sugar levels and improves the effectiveness of the prescribed medication.

Initially, that is before I started cooking with it, I was a bit skeptical about the taste. Since it has that mild smell of sesame oil, I was worried if my fussy kid would pick it out. But thankfully, the smell goes off completely once I use it for cooking. With such a healthy cooking medium at my disposal, I could now try out almost any recipe without fear of compromising on taste/health.

Now my MIL and my kid are big fans of fried snacks. And 'Mathri' happens to be one of their favorites. To make it extra healthy, I added some ragi flour to the whole wheat flour that I normally use. And a touch of garlic for extra zing. Used Fortune Vivo Oil both for kneading the dough and deep frying the it. The 'Mathris' turned out to be delicious and for once I was not worried about serving fried stuff to my diabetic MIL. Given the win-win scenario and buoyed by the success of my first trial, I extended the use of this oil to every dish that I prepare. And every time, it lived up to my expectations.

So, this us a short review of Fortune Vivo Dia-Care Oil -

Pro's 

1. Contains health benefits like tocotrienol and Oryzanol.
2. Contains sesame oil which has proven properties to regulate blood sugar levels.
3. Priced economically at Rs 675/- for 5 liters. 
4. Taste is neutral.
5. Easily available.
6. Less absorbed while frying.


Con's

1. Smells lightly of sesame oil. But it goes off during cooking.

Overall, it is one great choice not only for diabetics but for everyone looking to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

And this is the fabulously yummy and healthy 'Garlic Ragi Mathri' recipe. Read on -

Preparation Time - 40 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup ragi flour
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• salt to taste
• 5 tsp oil for kneading + sufficient for deep frying ( I used Fortune Vivo Dia-Care Oil )

Preparation - Take the wheat flour, ragi flour, grated garlic, chili powder, baking powder, salt and 5 tsp oil in a mixing bowl. Mix well. 

Sprinkle water little by little and knead into a tight dough. Smear it with a little oil and keep aside for 1-2 hours.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok.

Roll out the dough into a thick circle ( about 2 mm thickness ). Take the cap of a bottle and cut out small circles ( abt 3 cm in diameter ). Pierce holes into the circles with a fork.

Add 4-5 circles to the hot oil and fry till brown on both sides. Take out and place on paper napkins.

Repeat for the remaining dough.

Once the mathri had cooled down completely, store it in airtight containers.

Note - Both Ragi and garlic are beneficial for Diabetic patients. And combined with the health benefits of the Fortune Vivo Dia-Care oil, they makes for a great addition to a diabetic menu.

***Important - “I’m creating a dish using Fortune Vivo Diabetes-Care Oil for the #MakeIndiaDiabetesFree activity at BlogAdda.”

Ragi Buttermilk

Another healthy and traditional drink from Odisha. A few days back I had posted the recipe for Ragi Sharbat (sweet) on my blog which elicted quite a few surprises. Most people were not aware that Ragi can be consumed in the raw form. Here is the savory version of the drink which can be best as 'Ragi Buttermilk'.
There is yet another version in which Ragi flour is dissolved in 'Torani', the water that is discarded after cooking rice. But I will leave it for some other time.

Read on for the recipe-

Preparation Time - 5 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 tall glass buttermilk
• 2 tsp Ragi flour
• 1 tsp chopped coriander leaves
• 1/3 tsp chopped green chilli
• 1/3 inch ginger (finely grated)
• salt to taste

Preparation - Throw in all the ingredients in a blender. Buzz for a few seconds.

Pour into a tall glass with a few ice cubes thrown in.

Serve immediately.


Note - If you do not have buttermilk available, make your own. Take 3-4 tsp yogurt with a glass of water in a blender and buzz for 1 minutes. Throw in some ice so that the fat separates out and floats to the top.

Mandiya Sharbat (Ragi/Finger Millet drink)

Summers in the Western parts of Odisha are a scorching affair. Temperatures that hover around 50 degrees Celsius and hot searing winds make life miserable. Apart from having Pakhala, a watery rice dish that is known to have cooling properties, people prefer all sorts of chilled/cooling drinks . Little wonder that the sale/intake of soft drinks shoot up sharply. ( If you tend to disagree, try and remember when was the last time you were served a traditional drink at someone's house.)

But there are a whole lot of natural drinks that were very popular in Odisha till a few years back. Bela-panna, Lembu pani (lime juice), dahi sharbat (kind of lassi) , gholaa dahi (buttermilk) and mandiya sharbat (ragi drink)were the drinks of choice.

Ragi or Mandiya is known for its cooling properties on the boy and is regularly consumed as Ragi malt/porridge(palua in Odiya) down South. While it is usually consumed in the cooked form, people in Odisha make a simple cooling drink with Ragi powder and a little sugar/jaggery/mishri. Some fresh curd and very little cardamom may also be added to improve the flavor. The drink is usually consumed in the morning on an empty stomach but one can have it at any time of the time.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 5-6 mins

Ingredients -

3 tbsp Ragi powder (Mandiya Chuna)
2 tsp powdered jaggery
1/2 cup fresh yogurt
180 ml water
a pinch of cardamom (optional)
2-3 ice cubes (optional)


Preparation - Take the ragi powder, jaggery, water and cardamom powder in a blender jar. Buzz for 1-2 minutes till jaggery gets dissolved.

Strain the liquid to remove any undissolved solids. ( One can also drink it without straining. )

Pour into a tall glass and stir in the fresh yogurt.

Add ice cubes and serve immediately.

( The drink tends to separate into layers if allowed to stand. Nothing to panic about. Just stir again and drink it. )

Notes - There is also a savory version of this drink. Will publish it soon.

Mandiya Pitha ( Ragi/Finger Millet pancakes )

Mandiya or Finger millet is quite popular in Western Orissa. It is rich in calcium and has cooling properties. It is widely consumed during the summer months in the form of 'sherbat' or 'palua' to keep the stomach cool and reducing body heat. In some of the tribal districts of Orissa (like Keonjhar, Kalahandi, etc) it is mixed with fermented rice water and consumed as a popular drink.

It is also made into thin chakulis (savoury) or thick pithas (sweet/dessert). Read on for the recipe:

Preparation Time - 1 hour ( includes 35-40 minutes of standby time )

Ingredients - 1 cup chaula chuna (rice flour), 1 cup mandiya chuna (ragi flour), 1 cup chopped coconut, 1 1/3 cup water, 3 tsp (heaped) sugar, cardamon ( 2 nos), 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 4 tsp ghee.

Preparation - Mix the rice flour and ragi flour in a mixing bowl. Add water little by little and make into a batter of medium consistency (neither too thin nor two thick).

Grind the coconut into a paste and add to the batter. Add sugar, salt and powdered cardamon. Mix well and keep aside for 30-35 minutes.

Divide the batter into 4 parts. Sift in 1/4 tsp of baking powder to each portion of the batter and mix well  just before adding it to the wok.

Cooking - Heat 1/2 tsp ghee in a wok. Add one portion of the batter.

Cover with a lid and cook on one side for 3-4 minutes or till the batter stops being runny.

Flip over to the other side and another 1/2 tsp of ghee. Cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Remove from wok and allow to cool down for 5-6 minutes. Cut into pieces and serve.

Repeat the process with the remaining portions of the batter.

Note - Add milk instead of water to make the batter. It not only gives a better taste but also makes it more nutritious.