dessert Archives - Indian Vegan Cookbook

Nachni Kapa (Finger Millet Pudding)

Millets are hardy small-seeded annual grasses that are cultivated as grain crops and grow in adverse weather conditions. They also require much less water and care as compared to grains like wheat or rice.

Ragi, like most other millets, is usually soaked overnight or for at least 12 hours to ‘activate’ the fibre in it. It is then dried in the sun for a few hours before being roasted and powdered to be ready for use. Traditionally, we Indians harvested rain fed nachni, sprouted it to get the nutrients to an optimal level, dried it and then ground it to a fine powder. This powder was sieved to get the nachni ‘satva’, cooked in water, sweetened, and used to wean babies off mother’s milk.

Ragi/Nachni is rich in niacin (vitamin B3), and especially minerals like calcium and iron because of which it has traditionally been used to feed infants and babies and to keep anaemia at bay in children. Sprouted ragi is also rich in vitamin C that helps absorb iron better.

Ragi/Nachni (finger millet) is rich in complex carbohydrates which may help in preventing blood glucose levels from spiking after a meal as they take longer to digest thus releasing energy slowly and keeping one satiated for a longer time. The dietary fibre may help to control the ‘bad’ cholesterol and raise ‘good’ cholesterol levels and lower triglycerides. The soluble fibre in ragi absorbs cholesterol before it enters the bloodstream whereas the insoluble fibre acts like a prebiotic supporting the good bacteria in the gut.

Moogache Boon (Green Gram Porridge)

Moong dal is packed with protein and is an integral part of the Indian diet. It is rich in potassium, which helps lower blood pressure and protects against muscle cramping. It also contains minerals like magnesium, iron, and copper and dietary fiber. When eaten, moong dal helps produce a fatty acid called butyrate in the gut. This helps maintain the health of the intestinal walls. The dal has anti-inflammatory properties that prevent and accumulation of gas. Rich in B-complex vitamins, moong dal helps your body break carbohydrates down to glucose, and produce usable energy for your body. It cooks fast and is light and easy to digest. So all in all, it’s a great ingredient to include in your diet more often than not.

Madganeh (Bengal Gram Payasam/Karwari Payas)

Recipe credit: Darshana Muzumdar Serves 4 as part of a traditional Indian meal. Ingredients 1 cup chana dal (Bengal gram) 1 coconut ½ cup jaggery

Rice and Green Gram Dal Kheer

Rice is one of the oldest cereal grains in the world which has been grown for at least 5,000 years and almost all of the rice today is cultivated in Asia. It is also a staple food for more than half the population of the world. There are thousands of types of rice and many are becoming rare to find. But mostly rice fits into two groups: white (polished) or brown (whole grain). Though brown rice offers more health benefits, white rice is what is used more commonly. Brown rice comes in a variety of shades, including reddish, purplish, or black. Rice is primarily composed of carbohydrate in the form of starch, which makes up almost 80% of its total dry weight. The body digests sticky or starchy rice faster than other long grain varieties like basmati. During the processing of white rice, the grain loses the bran, or seed coat, which contains most of the fiber, and so brown rice contains a higher amount of dietary fiber than white rice.