Millet Flour

Millet flour is ground from whole millet grains. Bajra or bajri flour, from pearl millet, is grey green and makes the thick bajra rotla of Gujarat and Rajasthan, eaten with garlic chutney, jaggery and ghee. Jowar or juwar flour, from sorghum, is pale and mild and makes Maharashtrian bhakri. Ragi flour, from finger millet, is reddish brown and becomes ragi mudde, ragi dosa, porridge and Sri Lankan kurakkan roti.

Each flour behaves differently. Bajra has the strongest flavour and is best in winter dishes; jowar is the easiest to work and the mildest; ragi shines in porridge, dosa batter and sweet ladoo. Millet flours do not form a gluten network, so they are patted by hand and do not puff like wheat rotis. A small bag is sensible for a first try, and Fudco packs both bajri and ragi flour.

Knead millet flour with hot water, which softens the starch and helps it bind, and make only as much dough as you will cook at once. Store the flour airtight and use it within two months. For wheat free baking see gluten free flour, and for fasting days farali flour, all under millet and gluten free flour.