Oh . . . Ragi . . .

After quite a long time since we had been trying to reintroduce Ragi into the local diet (since 2011), we still don't have any data to prove that we've made any impact.

However, I keep hearing stories on how many more farmers grow millets in the Palamu region now.

And, on and off we get to eat ragi dishes when I visit mission stations, like the 'Ragi puttu' we were served last week at Chandwa.

I was told that this dish is relished by quite a many of the residents there.

May the tribe of ragi lovers increase . . . 

Long forgotten . . .

Over the last 2 weeks, I've stumbled on some great information about finger-millets. 

Earlier, we only had information about pearl millet being grown in the communities around. However, we were surprised to know that even finger millet was cultivated here a long time ago.

The information came from two sources. 

The first source was a class I took for few people from the community on nutrition. I was narrating about crops which were cultivated earlier which are not done anymore. While I was narrating about millets, one middle aged man asked me whether I knew about samai, kodo and madwa. 

That was music to my ears. As we discussed, it dawned to me that all three millets used to be cultivated before 40-50 years in the communities of our region.  

The second source was one of our staff, who hails from North Eastern Uttar Pradesh who returned after a short visit to Vellore, Tamil Nadu. I had requested him to get us couple of kilograms of finger millet powder as we were finding it difficult to cope with our kids' demand for ragi porridge. 

He brought us the couple of kilograms all the way from Vellore, but also told us that few people cultivate the thing in his native village, about 150 kilometers from here. However, he also told us that the cultivation of the crop was slowly decreasing. 

Later, I had discussion about the crop with few of our retired staff. They all fondly remembered these crops. Further discussions were very similar to those which our team at NJH had with the local villagers. 

Now, we need to take a call on whether it is worth the effort to try to bring back finger millet cultivation in this region. The effort is going to be massive. 

The major hurdles - 

- In Palamu, it was only about 10 years since the local communities stopped madwa farming. Therefore, the memory of cultivation was very much there. Here, I don't think we would find anybody who'll have any knowledge about the cultivation, leave alone having had a taste of the millet. 

- We'll have to bring the seed from elsewhere. 

- We'll have to develop the taste of the local community to eat foodstuff made from madwa. 

The plus points are many - 

- It gives an alternative to the community in their diets

- Considering that there has been much crop losses due to vagaries of the climate, finger millets are a resilient crop. 

- It is poor friendly as it is not dependent on irrigation. 

- Of course, it is much more nutritious than other cereals. 

- It scores over bajra as it can be eaten all the year around. 

The big question remains on whether it would be worth the effort . . . God gave us success in Palamu . . . Requests your prayers as we plan ahead . . . 

Tale of two fields

While Professor Haider from Birsa Agriculture University visited the fields in the target villages of NJH Community Health work, we got to witness a very telling fact about millet farming.

At Patna village, we got to meet a farmer who had sown 2 adjacent fields with finger millet and rice. Our staff had not noticed it. However, when Professor Haider visited the place, he pointed the obvious difference. It did not need any explanation.

The ragi field is on the right and the rice is on the left . . .

Prof. Haider and the rest of the team walking through the rice field. 

There was not even one panicle of grain in the rice field. It was in a sorry state of affairs with yellowish dwarfed slivers of leaves. The farmer told us that he had in fact given some amount of water to the rice field. However, it did not do any good. He had not tended the madwa field much. However, it was evident that he had a better than average finger millet crop.

He was happy to have tried finger-millet. He told us that he would have at least couple of sacks millet grain for the year. If he had put rice in both the fields, he would have lost everything.

Something was better than nothing.

I’m at anew place now. Here, finger millet is not much known. But, there are farmers who grow pearl millet (bajra). On interaction with patients from the nearby villages, it is very obvious that pearl millet farming is also on the way out. Farmers prefer to grow rice or wheat.

Bajra (pearl millet) at NJH. We had tried out a small plot this year and got a good yield

I’m sure it’s worth to look at the possibility of a program/project to promote pearl millet farming. Pearl millet also has many common features with finger millet, including the property of requiring less water than other crops. In addition, pearl millet is a rich source of Iron and maybe it could be the solution to Iron deficiency woes of the country.   

Photo Post, 20 Jan, 2014

Miscellaneous snaps from NJH . . .

We had a 1 year old child come down in shock after becoming dehydrated from severe diarrhoea. We had to put in an intraosseous line. We found out that the line would flow if there was a bit extra pressure. The best way to attain that was to put the intravenous bottle as high as possible. The intervention worked well and the boy survived. Dr. Koshy from Baptist Hospital, Tezpur helped us over phone to put in the line. 

The harvest from the Ragi fields and SRI Rice fields are finally over. One of the farmers gifted us about 8 kilograms of the finger millet. The farmers who worked with us produced a total of 5 tonnes of paddy from about 4 acres and about one tonne of finger millet from about 5 acres. Of course, the yield can be more, but it was unbelievable when the farmers told us that they got about 1.5 tonnes of paddy more than what they usually got. Nobody remembers about previous finger millet productions as it's quite some time since anybody had done finger millet farming in this region. 

Pilatus enjoying the warmth of the library (doctor's duty room)

We've a traditional healer in Satbarwa village who's quite well known for his treatment of strokes. I know this guy and has heard that he treats his patients with an extract of garlic. Only recently, I saw the medicines that he prescribes for his patients. There was one branded preparation of Ashwagandha extracts, then one packet of unidentified medicines and a orangish fluid which was supposed to be injected once a week for 6 weeks. The total cost 1300 INR. This was brought to us by one patient with Bells's palsy. She came to us for a second opinion after seeing this traditional healer. She was a bit concerned about the orange colored potion which was to be given as an intramuscular injection.

Our almost completed water tank. It's about 75 feet tall. Last Sunday, I took a trip to the top. 

I took some snaps which I shall put up in a later post . . . The view from the top is awesome . . .

Finger Millet Recipes Book

As part of the Climate Change project activity of promoting use of millets, we've come out with a finger millet recipe book. 

Below are the pages from the first draft. Would love suggestions . . . The size of the paper is A5 (half that of A4)

The English version of the recipe book is in various parts of my blog. Please click the links below for the respective recipes . . .

1. Madwa Kichchidi

2. Madwa Anarasa

3. Madwa Laddoo

4. Ragi Porridge

5. Madwa Thoppa Roti

6. Madwa Chilka Roti

7. Ragi Idli

Madwa Kichdi

As you all know, Kichdi is a largely North Indian preparation made from dal and lentils. 

The South Indian equivalent of it is the Pongal. 

Below is the recipe for Madwa Kichdi . . . 

Ingredients

Finger millet flour: 1 cup

Lukewarm water: 2 cups

Black gram: Half Cup

Salt: To taste

Method

1. Sift the millet flour with salt.

2. Make dough of average consistency by mixing the flour with water.

3. Cook the black gram with about 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Add salt to taste.

4. Once the pulse is cooked, add the dough in teaspoon sized portions to the cooked black gram.

5. Cook the pulse-dough mixture for another 5-7 minutes. Your ragi kichdi is ready.

Madwa Anarsa

This is another sweet made out of Madwa. A sort of a soft biscuit, it tastes good . . . 

Anarsa is a traditional sweet in North India traditionally made of jaggery, rice, poppy seeds and ghee . . .

Ingredients

Finger millet flour: 2 cups

Sugar: 4 teaspoons

Salt: Half teaspoon

Lukewarm water: 3 cups

Oil to fry: Half a litre

Method

1. Mix the sugar in 3 cups of lukewarm water.

2. Mix the salt with the finger millet flour.

3. Make dough of a medium consistency using the water and the finger millet flour.

4. From the dough, prepare approximately 2 inch round flat discs.

5. Heat the oil and fry these portions in the oil till well cooked.

Madwa Laddoo

Another one of the various local delicacies made from Ragi/Finger Millet/Madwa

Madwa Laddoo . . . This is the local name. 

I don’t know what it should be called in English. 

I could call it ‘FINGER MILLET DUMPLING’.

THE RECIPE . . .

Ingredients

Finger millet flour: 2 cups

Lukewarm water: 3 cups

Cooking oil: 4 teaspoon

Salt: To taste

Diced medium sized onion

Method

 

Make dough out of the finger millet flour, lukewarm water and salt. Make elongated balls of approximately half inch length as shown in the picture. 

Arrange sticks at the bottom of a wide mouthed vessel such that there is space for some amount of water below the sticks. See the snap. 

Lay a leaf (preferably banana leaf) or muslin cloth on the top of the twigs that are arranged. Ensure that the water do not touch the sticks. Boil the water inside the vessel.

Once the water is boiled, carefully arrange the elongated balls of the dough on the leaf or muslin cloth. Steam the dumplings for about 10-15 minutes. We had tried to do this with a idli cooker. Surprisingly, the results were quite different to the traditional method of steaming.

In another vessel, heat 4 teaspoons of oil. Put the diced onion and fry till golden brown.

Add the ragi balls to the onion and heat for about 3-4 minutes.

These dumplings taste well with tomato sauce.