How stone-ground atta is made at our mill
From the wheat sack to the paper bag: the six steps behind every order.
Cooking with millet flours
Jowar, bajra and ragi behave differently from wheat. A few things that help.
Millet flours have no gluten, which is the stretchy protein that lets wheat dough roll thin. That is the main thing to remember. A jowar or bajra dough will crack if you try to roll it like a roti, and it will not hold a filling the way wheat does.
For jowar bhakri, use warm water and knead a small portion at a time, just enough for one or two bhakris. Pat it out between your palms or on a plate dusted with flour, and cook it on a hot tawa, brushing a little water on top. It puffs when flipped onto the flame.
Bajra dough works best with hot water and a pinch of salt, kneaded hard with the heel of the hand. Ragi can be mixed with boiling water first, almost like a porridge, then kneaded once it is cool enough to touch. This makes it soft and easy to shape.
If you are new to millets, start with half wheat and half millet. The dough will roll, and the family gets used to the taste. Our multigrain atta is already blended this way. Millet flours turn stale faster than wheat, so we grind them in small lots; keep them in a closed jar and use them within three weeks.
