Tribal Cuisine: Mandia (Ragi/Finger millet )Karanji Pitha

Ingredients

1. Mandia (Ragi/ Finger millet ) flour- 1½  cup
2. Wheat flour /Maida flour – 1 cup
3. Fresh grated coconut—2 cup
4. Sugar/Jaggery- 1 cup
5. Green cardamom powder-1/4^th  tsp
6. Ghee-2 tbs
7. salt – as required
8. Oil – for frying

Preparation Method

• Take a pan and put the freshly grated coconut and jaggery/sugar.
• Heat it on a low flame and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes till it becomes a little dry.
• Add green cardamom powder and continue heating on low flame for another 1 minute.
• Put this mix aside in a bowl and let it cool.
• In another bowl mix Wheat flour / Maida (all-purpose flour), Mandia (Ragi) flour, salt & sieve them to remove any husk or other impurities.
• Take a small pan and heat ghee till it becomes light hot. Pour the light hot ghee into the mixt flour and mix well.
• Add water to mix flour, knead for a minute, and form a smooth dough. Cover and leave the dough to rest for around 10 –15 minutes.
• Now divide the dough into some equal portions.
• Flatten the dough ball and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Use little flour for dusting if it sticks too much during rolling.
• Add a tablespoon of the coconut stuffing to it.
• Brush the edges with milk// water and fold over the upper half sealing the Karanji to form a semi-circle.
• Press lightly and seal well. Use a fork to crimp the edges and trim. 
• Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
• Fry 3-4 karanjis at a time( depends upon the size of pan ), turning them while frying until they will puff up slightly and have a crisp coating.
• Drain over the paper and serve warm or store it in an airtight container.

Prepared by: Sabnam Aferin

Cuttack, Odisha

You can reach her at [email protected]