Ragi mudde is a finger millet ball that’s typically served hot. Its flavors are bland or plain, so it’s best served with a rich and flavorful side dish. Classic side choices include curry, chutney, dal, gravy, or another saucy dish.
Moreover, one look at a ragi ball might have you wondering what to serve with ragi mudde. Well, you don’t take on the entire ball. Instead, you take a morsel, smother it with sauce, and swallow it as it is – no chewing. Thus, ragi mudde is a must-try experience when you delve into Indian cuisine.
1. Onion Chutney
Ragi mudde is fantastic with chutneys, so starting with those is a good idea. You can serve a full selection of flavors or stick to one, like this onion chutney. It’s a blend of sweet, tangy, and spicy flavors. Furthermore, it’s incredibly aromatic and full of heat, so be prepared to feel fire down your throat when you have this with a hot morsel of ragi ball.
2. Tomato Chutney
Tomato chutneys are a classic and popular chutney flavor loved for their distinctly tangy taste profile. Like most Indian side dishes, it’s also spicy because of the many seasonings and flavorings. Moreover, this recipe teaches you how to make tomato chutney in two ways: the first with cloves and the other with onions. Each combination produces a unique blend of flavors, so try both to find your favorite!
3. Rasam
Rasam is a standard affair with ragi mudde, especially in the South Indian region. It’s also known as saaru, and unlike chutneys or stews, its consistency is more liquid because it’s a soup. The main elements are tamarinds and tomatoes, thus resulting in a brownish-orange color and tangy-sweet flavor profile. It’s also spicy, but if you open the recipe post, there are tips to skip the hot peppers.
4. Sambar
Sambar is a stew made with lentils, vegetables, and spices. For the lentils, options are usually toor dal or split pigeon peas, moong dal, and masoor or red lentils. However, you can mix types or stick to one. The same flexibility extends to vegetables; you can add carrots, onions, tomatoes, pumpkins, eggplants, or whatever you like. But the essential tip is to choose a good-quality sambar powder to ensure flavor.
5. Koli Saaru
Koli saaru is a type of chicken curry popular in Karnataka, an Indian region where ragi mudde is also prominent. Thus, the two have become a famous combination. This curry recipe uses three masala pastes – green, red, and white – so you can expect your dish to be incredibly flavorful and delicious. Moreover, its sauce isn’t as thick as other curries, and you can use bone-in meat cuts.
6. Soppu Saaru
Soppu saaru is also a curry. You may also know it as holi soppu saaru, huli soppina saru, or mulangi. Unlike koli saaru, though, this recipe is vegetarian-friendly because there’s no meat. Instead, the main element is radish leaves; thus, it’s also called radish leaves saaru. Such a unique affair uses only one type of masala paste. Nonetheless, it’s as flavorful as the one with chicken or three masala pastes.
7. Tomato Pappu (Andhra Tomato Dal)
Dal recipes or dishes with lentils, peas, beans, and other dried, split legumes are highly recommended with ragi mudde. Thus, consider serving this tomato pappu or Andhra tomato dal, a golden yellow lentil dish flavored with tomatoes, spices, and other seasonings. It’s tangy and spicy, and the consistency is thick, great for coating your ragi mudde morsels with a tasty sauce.
8. Moong Dal
Like tomato pappu, moong dal, also known as yellow mung lentils, is a bright gold and vegetarian-friendly dish made only from veggies, spices, and lentils. You can cook this on a stovetop or instant pot, and the recipe guides you on both methods. It also teaches you how to make either moong dal tadka or moong dal fry, each with its unique cooking process and taste profile.
9. Massopu
Massopu, like koli saaru, is a dish popular in Karnataka and is even called massopu saaru. Its central element is mixed greens, a combination of palak, dill, spinach, methi, amaranthus, or other leafy veggies you have at hand. These greens are chopped, combined with other ingredients, cooked, and then mashed; hence, massopu means “mashed greens”. It’s chunky, flavorful, and best enjoyed while warm, just like ragi mudde.
10. Chicken Pulusu
Chicken pulusu is a rich gravy dish from Andhra Pradesh made from chicken, tomatoes, onions, ginger garlic paste, coconut paste, oil, butter, and spices. Thus, it has a highly complex taste profile, and the consistency is thick but not too much. Despite the long ingredients list, preparing and cooking this recipe takes only 20 minutes!
11. Chicken Curry
Although this list already has koli saaru, a chicken curry from Karnataka, you can pair your ragi mudde with other chicken variants. Each type prepares, makes, and flavors its curry differently, so it’s like having a new yet familiar dish. For instance, this classic chicken curry recipe has yogurt, which koli saaru does not. This yogurt addition helps improve the curry’s taste and makes it creamy.
12. Southekayi Hasi Gojju
Gojju dishes, another type of curry made from veggies, fruits, and coconut, are well-recommended with ragi mudde. Southekayi hasi gojju is a type of gojju made from cucumbers; hence, it’s also called cucumber raw curry. Although the cucumbers are combined with chilis and other spicy flavors, the overall profile is still soothing, cool, and light, making this an interestingly apt affair for a hot afternoon.
13. Mavinakayi Gojju
If the bright green color of southekayi hasi gojju isn’t your thing, swap the cucumbers for mangoes to make this reddish-orange mavinakayi gojju. It’s also known as maavinakayi menaskai or raw mango curry, as the dish is made from unripe mangoes. There are also coconut, tamarind, jaggery, dal, chilis, and other exciting ingredients. Thus, the resulting dish is a phenomenal blend of sweet, spicy, tangy, and tropical flavors.
