India, Oct. 23 -- Around Diwali time, when I have eaten more motichur laddus and murukkus than I can resist, I think of ragi mudde, mainly because it is the healthiest food that I know. It checks all the boxes, and also fits the macrobiotic idea of eating locally and seasonally. Karnataka, specifically Bengaluru, is ragi heaven because a lot of the ragi grown in the state comes from Tumakuru, just outside Bengaluru.

Ragi, or finger millet (Eleusine coracana) began its journey in the highlands of Africa but now, it has made India its home as well. Millets have been cultivated in the subcontinent for millennia. While other states lay claim to ragi in their diet, Karnataka takes the (ragi) cake for the sheer variety of how ragi is used in o...