Ragi Sangati
Rayalaseema's daily staple: soft rice cooked with finger-millet flour and beaten into smooth, dusky balls, made for breaking into natukodi pulusu or a bowl of pappu.
Prep 5 min · Cook 30 min · Total 35 min · Serves 4
Ingredients
Sangati
- ½ cup Rice, rinsed
- 3 ½ cups Water
- 1 cup Ragi flour (finger-millet flour)
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Oil
To serve
- Natukodi pulusu, mudda pappu or any Andhra curry, to taste
Method
- Cook the rice. Bring the water to the boil in a heavy pan, add the rice and salt, and cook uncovered over medium heat, stirring now and then, until the rice is very soft and starting to break up. There should still be plenty of water around it.
- Add the ragi. Turn the heat to low. Tip the ragi flour into the middle of the pan in a mound, without stirring. Cover and let it steam on top of the rice for 3 minutes.
- Beat it smooth. Uncover and mash and stir hard with a sturdy wooden spoon or a sangati karra, pressing the flour against the sides, until there are no dry lumps and the mixture is thick, smooth and pulls together.
- Steam. Cover again and leave on the lowest heat for 5 minutes so the ragi cooks through. It will darken slightly and lose its raw floury taste.
- Shape. Wet or oil your hands and a bowl. Scoop out portions, roll them in the bowl into smooth balls and serve hot with natukodi pulusu or pappu poured over.
Tips
The sangati is ready when a wet finger pressed into it comes away clean. Eat it by pinching off a piece, dipping it in curry and swallowing rather than chewing, the way it's eaten at home in Kurnool and Kadapa.