Amaranth Squares | Rajgira Chikki

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Rajgira or Rajagra Chikki or Amaranth Squares are , light, fluffy, yummy, healthy, and easy to make energy bars or Chikki.  Chikki or brittle is generally made during Makarsankranti, which is also called Pongal, Lohri, or Festival of Kites – a festival celebrated across India. In this recipe, I have used Amaranth, which is a super grain and this recipe is gluten-free, superfood, vegan, refined-sugar free and super easy to make.

Makar Sankranti is one of the few ancient Indian festivals that has been observed according to solar cycles, while most festivals are set by the lunar cycle of the lunisolar Hindu calendar.^[4] Being a festival that celebrates the solar cycle, it almost always falls on the same Gregorian date every year (January 14), except in some years when the date shifts by a day for that year. ^{(Souce: wiki)}

As you probably have read here, this is the part of my chikki making spree. Having wanted to make Amaranth squares for a long time, I thought this was the perfect time for it.

Rajgira Chikki | Amaranth Squares

Rajgira or Rajagra Chikki or Amaranth Squares are super easy, yummy, light, fluffy, and very healthy energy bars.  This is my variation to to the Chikki making during Makarsankranti.  Amaranth is a super grain and this recipe is gluten-free, superfood, vegan, refined-sugar free and super easy to make.

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Indian

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings (slide to adjust): 10 people

Author: Sonal

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup Amaranth seeds / Rajgira / Rajagra [I bought the organic seeds from Whole Foods. You can also used readymade popped amaranth]
• ▢ 1 cup Jaggery
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Brown sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup Water
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Milk / Nut milk for vegan version
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Ghee (clarified butter) / any neutral oil for vegan version
• ▢ 4 drops Rosewater (optional)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Rose petals for garnish (optional)

Instructions

• Heat a non-stick wide bottomed pan.  Keep the lid of the container handy.  When the pan is hot, add 1 teaspoon of amaranth seeds at a time, making sure the seeds are spread in one layer and not on top of each other.  Put the lid on.  The seeds will start popping right away. Check in between to make sure these are not burning.  Once the seeds stop popping (which should be somewhere within around 30 seconds to a minute), remove the seeds and keep them aside, repeat with the remaining seeds, 1 teaspoon at a time.    1 cup of seeds, when popped, will turn to 3+ cups of popped seeds.  Keep it aside.  Skip this step If using readymade popped seeds.
• Heat ghee/oil in a non stick pan. Add crumbled jaggery, ¼ cup water, and brown (or white) sugar. It’s ok to skip the sugar. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring as needed. Add 2 tablespoons of milk/nut milk. keep stirring as needed, and simmer for another 5 minutes. The jaggery mixture will caramelize into dark brown color. You know it’s done when you take a drop of that mixture and put it water and a ball forms instead of disintegrating.
• Add rose water, mix. Add popped amaranth seeds to the above mixture and mix well. Turn off the heat.
• Grease a baking plate or any square/rectangle plate with a few drops of ghee/oil. Transfer the mixture to the plate and flatten it. Sprinkle dried rose petals on top. Divide into squares using a knife, while the mixture is still warm. Remove the squares from the plate once cooled down.

  Enjoy!

Notes

Jaggery: 

 [preferably the kind used for making chikki. I did not have that on hand so I used the regular kind]

 

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What are the benefits of Amaranth?

• Amaranth is gluten free super grain. It contains Lysine, an amino acid.  This makes amaranth a complete protein, because it contains all the essential amino acids.
• Amaranth’s protein content is about 13 percent, or 26 grams per cup, which is much higher than for most other grains. 
• It is A Source Of Key Vitamins And Minerals: Amaranth contains calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and iron. One cup of uncooked amaranth has 31 percent of the RDA for calcium, 14 percent for vitamin C, and a whopping 82 percent for iron.
• It is s also a good source of fibre with 13 grams of dietary fibre per uncooked cup. 

Here is the Source of the above information.