Goan Tizaan and Goan Ambil

Nutritious Goan Nachani Tizaan and Ambil

It’s time to rediscover two traditional and healthy Goan nachani (finger millet) recipes. Goan Tizaan and Goan Ambil. Tizaan is a sweet pudding and Ambil a congee-like fermented ragi drink or thin porridge. Both are very tasty and packed with the nutritional goodness of nachani, a grain that’s rich in dietary fibre, protein, calcium, and iron, and is known to be good for strengthening the bones, lowering bad cholesterol, reducing hunger pangs, and boosting immunity.

And except for the two-minute job of soaking the nachani (ragi/finger millet) flour the previous night for fermenting it and making nachani Ambil the next morning, both these traditional Goan recipes – Goan Tizaan and Goan Ambil – would be quick and easy to make. Especially so if you start with nachani flour rather than with the grains for making the Nachani Tizaan and Nachani Ambil.

Ingredients

Goan Tizaan

3 tbsp nachani flour

1 cup milk

¼ cup + 1 cup water

60 to 70 g (approx. 5 tbsp) grated jaggery, preferably palm jaggery

½ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp salt

A few raisins and chopped cashew nuts

Goan Ambil

3 tbsp nachani flour

¼ cup + 2 ½ cup water + approx. ¼ to ½ cup more

½ cup coconut milk (with 2 tbsp coconut milk powder)

1 tsp crushed ginger

½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

¼ tsp pepper powder

3 tbsp cooked rice (optional)

Chopped coriander

Please note: You could use buttermilk (yogurt mixed with an equal quantity of water) in place of coconut milk. But then you have to add it to the ambil after cooling it to room temperature. While the coconut milk version would be a tasty vegan beverage, this version would be a good nutritious, probiotic drink.

Procedure

Goan Tizaan

1. Make a smooth slurry of the nachani flour and ¼ cup water.
2. In a vessel, mix the milk, 1 cup of water, the grated jaggery, salt, and ground cardamom. (If the palm jaggery is too hard, dissolve it in hot water first, cool the solution, and then add it to the milk.)
3. Stir everything and then add the nachani flour slurry. Heat the mix with constant stirring on medium heat till the mixture thickens. Add in the raisins and chopped cashew nuts, and continue cooking the mix for around 2 minutes more on low heat. Then take it off the stove.
4. Ladle the nachani tizaan out into bowls. (It will thicken further as it cools.)

This quantity will serve two people.

Enjoy!

Goan Ambil

1. In a small bowl, mix 3 tbsp of nachani flour with ¼ cup of water, cover it loosely (keeping a slight gap between the lid and the rim of the bowl) and let it ferment overnight for 10-12 hours.
2. The next morning, add the remaining 2 ½ cups of water to a vessel. To it, add the crushed ginger, ground cumin, salt, and sugar. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat.
3. Stir in the fermented nachani slurry. Keep stirring as the ambil thickens to avoid the formation of lumps. Let the mixture boil on low heat for around 2 minutes.
4. Next, add the coconut milk and mix everything well again.
5. Add the pepper powder. Stir and then adjust the taste for more salt or sugar.
6. Add a little more water to adjust the ambil to the desired thickness. It should be like a congee or thin porridge.
7. Stir in 3 tbsp of cooked leftover rice (optional). Boil for a couple of minutes more and turn off the heat.
8. Then pour into glasses and top with chopped coriander.

Enjoy!

Please note: Ambil can be enjoyed hot or cold.