Meatless Monday-Indian Finger Millet Energy Balls

Bliss balls is the current trend-Any cafes you walk in, they have these raw, healthy, cacao truffles. I was watching a cooking show and there was a 70 year old granny proudly talking about how she had inherited a recipe from her granny and it has been passed over for generations. As she was making it, I realized that these bliss balls have been there for ever. We are just getting to know how healthy it is off late.

I can’t exactly call it super healthy-But one piece keeps your tummy for over an hour and half. A great pre/post workout snack 🙂

It uses Finger Millet flour- the flour widely used in African and South  Asian cuisine. It is a gluten-free flour and I found a pack in an Indian Grocery Store. It says ‘Ragi Flour’ on the packet. Made these Energy Balls and they were divine. It’s pretty much steamed millet flour with some extra tasty stuff. I stuck to the recipe (for once) and it was so so tasty.

You need: (This makes around 8 servings)

• 1/4 cup finger millet flour
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp white sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
• 1 heaped Tbsp + 1 tsp palm sugar
• Green Cardamom seeds-ground in a mortar and pestle
• Salt-1/8 tsp

Method:

• I steamed the flour in bamboo basket (In that video, granny used a super cool traditional steamer) In a bamboo basket, place a plate lined with baking paper.
• In a small bowl, add 1/4 cup finger millet flour and 1 Tbsp of water, salt and massage the flour. Transfer it to the plate and steam for exactly 12 minutes.

• While flour is steaming, add sesame seeds, peanuts and palm sugar and process it. Not into a powder- but a coarse mixture.
• Let it stay there and after the flour has cooled down to a room temperature, you need to add flour into the food processor and process until they come together. If it is too crumbly, add a Tbsp of water and process it.
• Shape them as balls and store it in an air-tight container.