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Ragi Seed (Finger Millet) Whole Grain Sourdough Bread

Elly Emmett

Ragi seed, otherwise known as 'finger millet' is a highly nutritious grain and an excellent addition to whole grain sourdough breads (as are other types of millet and non-gluten grains). This ragi bread recipe is very easy to make, is naturally fermented with a sourdough starter culture and uses a combination of fresh milled whole wheat flour and whole ragi seed flour.

This recipe is an excellent example of what I call the ‘Gel Method’ for whole grain sourdough baking, which borrows the technique of using ‘gelling’ and binding ingredients commonly used in gluten free baking to improve the structure and texture of whole grain sourdough breads. This recipe is not gluten free - it contains a combination of whole wheat and ragi flour (75% and 25% respectively), but with the addition of a small amount of psyllium husk, this relatively lower gluten dough can achieve a wonderful structure and a light, moist crumb.

If you haven’t already seen it, make sure you view the video demonstration of me making this bread:

You may also be interested in viewing this earlier video I made on the ‘Gel Method’ where I talk about it more generally, give some other examples of loaves I’ve made using psyllium husk (and other natural gelling agents) and demonstrate another recipe.

Interestingly, this method is highly suitable for all kinds of whole wheat/spelt/ancient wheat sourdoughs (and combinations with gluten free grains).

Given the reduced gluten strength of whole grain wheat doughs generally (especially with ancient wheats), the addition of a little psyllium husk or other naturally gelling ingredients can really boost the structure, rise, texture and keeping quality of these breads.

I offer much thanks to the world of gluten free sourdough bread making for the inspiration for my ‘Gel Method’ breads. In future I’d like to share some of the successful whole grain gluten free sourdough recipes I’ve made over the years - it’s amazing what can be made with such a wide variety of grains and a few tricks up your sleeve!

The Recipe
Ragi Seed (Finger Millet) Whole Grain Sourdough Bread


WET INGREDIENT MIX

  • 400-440g water (to make a 100-110% hydration dough)
    I used 440g of water in the video, but around 400g would probably be enough. Different flours absorb different amounts of water, so some experimentation is to be expected.

  • 10g psyllium husk
    I used whole psyllium husk but powdered husk could also be used.
    Other natural ‘gelling’ ingredients, such as ground linseeds/flax and ground chia seeds can also be used, however they are required in higher amounts. (The subject for another video and recipe!)

  • 100g sourdough starter
    I used whole wheat sourdough starter fed with an equal ratio of water and flour (100% hydration starter)


DRY INGREDIENT MIX

  • 300g whole wheat flour
    I used organic hard white wheat for this recipe, freshly milled in my Mockmill 200. You can use any kind of whole wheat flour for this recipe.

Ragi seed / Finger millet

  • 100g ragi flour
    Ragi is also known as ‘finger millet’ and is widely available in Indian grocery shops. It can usually be purchased in whole grain or flour form. If you cannot access ragi in your country, you can substitute for just about any other type of flour! (Just make sure it’s whole grain, eg. pearl millet, quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice, wild rice, amaranth, sorghum, teff etc.)

  • 7g salt

METHOD

  1. Weigh water, psyllium husk and sourdough starter into a bowl or jug. Mix thoroughly with a whisk and rest for 15 minutes to allow the psyllium to gel.

  2. In a separate bowl, weigh flours and salt and combine them thoroughly. I weigh my grain first then mill that into fresh flour.

  3. When you are ready, combine the wet mixture with the flour/salt mixture and mix until no dry flour remains. This dough will be gloppy and sticky, so you can’t knead it. Only a basic mixing is required to ensure the ingredients are well combined.

  4. Cover the bowl and ferment the dough until it has visibly increased in size (look for a 50-100% increase in size) and the dough looks bubbly and has some air pockets when you look underneath. My dough took about 5-6 hours to ferment on a cool Brisbane autumn day with a maximum daytime temperature of 26°C/78°F. In hot weather this dough would likely be ready in 4 hours, in colder weather, 8-12 hours.

  5. When the dough is fermented, remove it from the bowl and shape into your desired loaf shape. I like to roll mine up a few times to make a long/oval shaped loaf (see video). A round, boule shape would also be nice, or a log shape to fit a small loaf pan.

  6. There are many options for proofing and baking a dough like this. In the video I took the easy route and placed the dough onto some non-stick baking paper to proof before lifting it into my preheated roaster. You could use any one of the following options:

    • Place the dough into a greased loaf pan and bake in the pan

    • Place the dough into a floured banneton and invert into a preheated baker or baking stone

    • Make your dough into a round shape and bake in a dutch oven (either from a floured banneton or simple baking paper sling method).

  7. Proof the dough for about 60-90 minutes, depending on your room temperature, dough temperature and the stage of fermentation of your dough. Make sure you err on the side of caution and bake sooner than later in very hot weather! These loaves are deceiving and will not puff up beautifully like a more conventionally developed bread dough during the proofing stage. Over-proofing the dough will make the loaf more dense and flat during baking, so baking a bit sooner than you think is usually better if you’re not sure.
    *This recording has some excellent general tips for baking 100% whole grain sourdough breads

  8. When you think the dough is almost ready to bake, preheat your oven and baking pot (if using) to 220°C/430°F.

  9. Bake the loaf for 45 minutes covered, then another 10 minutes uncovered (depending on your oven and baking set-up, you may need to adjust times).

    * A final note - make sure you bake your loaf very well. These loaves have a lot of moisture in them and require a thorough baking. If your setup is different to mine and you’re not sure, just bake the loaf until it is a nice dark brown colour and it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.


Let me know how you go if you give this a try!

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