Soaking, sprouting and the bloating worry
Some people feel heavy after their first millet meals. Here is how soaking, portions and slow changes help.
A grain shopper’s guide to Devaraja Market
How to read the grain and flour stalls of Mysuru’s old market, and what to look for when buying millets loose.
Devaraja Market, at the heart of old Mysuru on Sayyaji Rao Road, has been selling flowers, fruit and grain for more than a century. If you want to understand millets, a slow walk through its grain stalls teaches a lot.
Go in the morning, between 8 and 11, when the market is busy but not packed. The grain and pulse sellers are in the inner rows, past the flower and banana stalls. You will see open sacks of ragi, jowar and bajra, and on most days foxtail and little millet as well. Ask where each sack comes from; many sellers will name a taluk or a district.
Look closely at colour. Unpolished foxtail millet is pale yellow with a slightly dull surface; polished grain looks whiter and shinier. Pick up a pinch and rub it between your palms. Fresh grain smells clean and a little nutty, while old stock smells flat or musty. Check for small stones and husk, which tell you how carefully it was cleaned.
Prices move with the season. Loose millet in the market is often cheaper than ours, and that is fine: buy what you trust. We sell sealed packs with the harvest month and the farmer group on the label, and we are a 15-minute drive away in Saraswathipuram if you want to compare. Many of our regulars buy ragi loose at the market and their small millets from us.
