Kolkatan Chef Kirti Bhoutika's Ragi Wheat Crackers Complement Caesar Salad

Summary: Kolkatan chef Kirti Bhoutika's Ragi Wheat Crackers complement Caesar Salad as crunchy side dish or crouton substitute for the classic salad.

Kolkatan chef Kirti Bhoutika's Ragi and Whole Wheat Crackers flavorfully crackle as crouton substitute, side dish or snack: Kirti Bhoutika, via Facebook Aug. 4, 2019

Kolkatan chef Kirti Bhoutika's Ragi Wheat Crackers complement Caesar Salad as a crunchy side dish for her version of the classic salad or as a crispy substitute for the salad's croutons.

Chef Kirti shares her Ragi and Whole Wheat Crackers recipe via Facebook Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019. She backdrops her recipe choice: "Made these Ragi and whole wheat crackers to satisfy my chips and dips cravings."

The recipe is also available on her website, Chef Kirti (chefkirti.in), with the delectable title, "Ragi and whole wheat crackers with guacamole." The recipe's image, identical with her Facebook post, frames an enticing bowl of chopped avocado-and-tomato guacamole with perfectly baked ragi and whole wheat wedges. Chef Kirti's website provides the selfsame Facebook recipe for the delicious, healthy crackers.

Chef Kirti's Ragi and Whole Wheat Crackers recipe begins with making a dough. The flatbread's flours are proportioned at 1/2 cup of ragi flour and 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour. The flour is seasoned with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of red chili powder.

The dry ingredients are moistened with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and 3 tablespoons of yogurt. Warm water is added, as required, to soften the dough.

The dough is set aside for 30 minutes. Then it is rolled as thinly as possible. Chef Kirti recommends avoiding sticky surface complications by rolling the dough between two Silpat silicone baking mats or two sheets or parchment paper.

After rolling, the dough may be cut as crackers with a pizza cutter. Chef Kirti partitions the dough into attractive wedges. Nevertheless, the crackers may assume traditional shapes as squares or triangles or alternative shapes, such as ribbons, according to preference.

The doughy crackers are transferred to a preheated oven and baked, to crispness, at 170 degrees Celsius (338 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 to 22 minutes. Chef Kirti cautions against overbaking or underbaking.

Allow the crackers to cool. They may be stored in airtight containers or served, when cool, "with a dip of your choice."

Chef Kirti's Ragi and Whole Wheat Crackers recipe refreshes as a chips-and-dip snack. The recipe also pleases as a side dish, especially with such fresh vegetable dishes as Caesar Salad. Chef Kirti's version of the classic salad crunches with iceberg lettuce and brightens with brown bread croutons, black olives and sun-dried tomatoes ("Kolkatan Chef Kirti Bhoutika Styles Caesar Salad With Olives and Tomatoes," Earth and Space News, Thursday, June 9, 2022).

Beyond accompanying Caesar Salad as a side dish, Chef Kirti's Ragi and Whole Wheat Crackers also qualify as flavorful substitutes for the salad's signature seasoned croutons. The cracker wedges may be cubed or broken into attractively irregular pieces as crouton substitutes.

As her recipe title indicates, Chef Kirti's Ragi and Whole Wheat Crackers recipe calls for ragi. Ragi is familiar in India as a versatile staple, according to The Hindu Business Line's Jan. 1, 2012, article, "Ragi: Versatile, Wonder Grain." Ragi is marketed in the West as a specialty flour.

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is known as ragi in India. The annual herbaceous plant is grown as a cereal crop, i.e., a grass with an edible grain, in Africa and Asia. Ragi is a gluten-free whole grain.

As a gluten-free grain, ragi lacks the protein, gluten, found notably in wheat and other cereal crops such as barley and rye. Gluten sensitivities range from allergies to serious medical conditions, such as celiac disease and gluten ataxia. Contrarily, ragi offers easy digestibility.

As a whole grain, ragi retains the three edible parts (bran, germ, endosperm) of its seeds, also known as kernels. Also, whole grains preserve the proportions of bran, germ and endosperm presented during the field-growing stage.

Chef Kirti's repertoire of cracker and ragi recipes extends beyond her Ragi and Whole Wheat Crackers recipe. She also presents Cheese Jeera Crackers via Facebook Oct. 3, 2020; via Instagram Oct. 3, 2020; and via YouTube Oct. 5, 2020. She shares her Chilli Cheese Crackers recipe via Facebook April 29, 2022, and via YouTube April 27, 2022. Her recipe for Oat and Ragi Bread appears Jan. 19, 2021, via Facebook and Instagram.

Kirti Bhoutika's win in the fifth season of MasterChef India epitomizes the Kolkata-born Bengali's culinary commitment and talent. Her win, at age 20, on Christmas, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, qualifies her as the youngest MasterChef India winner.

Youngest MasterChef India winner Kirti Bhoutika poses with the treasured medal, December 2016: Kirti Bhoutika, via Facebook Dec. 31, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Kolkatan chef Kirti Bhoutika's Ragi and Whole Wheat Crackers flavorfully crackle as crouton substitute, side dish or snack: Kirti Bhoutika, via Facebook Aug. 4, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/chefkirtibhoutika/photos/pb.100044500056871.-2207520000../2469656369929601/

Youngest MasterChef India winner Kirti Bhoutika poses with the treasured medal, December 2016: Kirti Bhoutika, via Facebook Dec. 31, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/chefkirtibhoutika/posts/1900569896838254/

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