Good Food Guide: Multi Millet Brownies

"Farmers are growing high-yielding varieties of maize, wheat and paddy, as they get better returns from the market, while more and more people are eating only those. This has resulted in a decline in the production of our traditional foods,” said Karnataka Agriculture Minister, Krishna Byre Gowda while lamenting the status of ragi, the grain that shaped the identity of the state's farmers.

What followed was a multi-pronged programme aimed at boosting ragi cultivation by highlighting its multiple environmental benefits, improving profitability for ragi farmers and streamlining its availability through the Public Distribution System. A similar effort was made to popularise this 'poor man's food' among urban consumers who, in a quest for health, pick exotic quinoa and oats over locally grown millets. Rebuilding ragi's image meant focusing on its nutritional wealth and adapting it to all the foods we recognise and love: breakfast staples like idlis and dosas, pizzas, fried snacks baked goods and desserts.

This easy, fool-proof recipe substitutes bleached wheat flour with ragi and mixed millet flour and yields soft, decadent, chocolatey brownies that you'll love.

What you'll need

• 3/4 cup ragi flour
• 1/4 cup multi millet flour
• 1/2 cup multi grain atta or plain wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup sugar/jaggery powder (I used jaggery)
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/3 cup thick curd
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the dry ingredients and sieve thrice so they well combined. Stir the jaggery in milk and filter to remove impurities. (If using sugar, skip this step.) Combine the curd, butter, oil and whisk well. Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. Bake at 180°C for 30 – 35 minutes in a preheated oven.

This recipe was originally published here.