Whole kambu – 1 cup
Ragi flour – 1.5 cups
Water for cooking – 4.5 – 5 cups
Salt to taste
Chopped onion (Optional)
Soak whole kambu for an hour. Rinse and let it air-dry for a couple of hours. Then use a mixie and grind to a coarse rava/broken grain consistency. Add water to the broken kambu. Add the ragi flour and mix well. Set aside till it ferments. Overnight does the trick.
Boil the water, add salt and add the fermented grain mixture to it. Keep some more water aside. In case the porridge becomes too thick, add water as required. Allow it to cook till it thickens and flour gels together. Set aside till it cools completely.
Koozh can be eaten in a couple of ways. Thick koozh can be eaten as one would eat paddy/millet rice. Serve it with sambar and poriyal or however it is you eat your rice. Alternately, once the koozh has completely cooled down, it can be diluted with water so it is a more flowing porridge and chopped raw onion can be added to it. This is pretty much a complete food in itself. You can have it with side dishes of course but it tastes great just by itself. You will see it sold by the roadside during the summer months. This version is also offered to the deities during temple festivals. It literally is food for the gods. Enjoy it!
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