Grain encyclopedia
Sixteen grains grown across the subcontinent, with the numbers that explain why the millets are coming back and the ratios you need to cook them properly.
Values per 100 g of uncooked grain.
बासमती — 'the fragrant one'
Aged for a year before it is sold, basmati elongates rather than fattens when cooked — which is why every grain in a good biryani stays separate. Cultivated in the Himalayan foothills for at least four centuries.
Grown in Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand foothills
సోనా మసూరి
The everyday rice of the Deccan — light, slightly starchy and perfect for absorbing sambar and rasam. Lower in starch than most short grains, so it sits comfortably in a daily meal.
Grown in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka
പാലക്കാടൻ മട്ട
Parboiled before husking so nutrients migrate into the grain, Kerala's red rice is chewy, nutty and far more nourishing than polished white rice. Kanji made from it is the first food given to the unwell.
Grown in Palakkad, Kerala
ꯆꯥꯛ-ꯍꯥꯎ — 'delicious rice'
A GI-tagged Manipuri heirloom whose deep purple comes from anthocyanins — the same antioxidants as blueberries. Traditionally reserved for feasts and served as a sweet kheer.
Grown in Manipur
গোবিন্দভোগ
A short, sticky, buttery-scented rice offered first to Govinda in Bengali temples. Its aroma is closer to popcorn than to basmati.
Grown in Bardhaman, West Bengal
ರಾಗಿ / Nachni / Kelvaragu
Thirty times the calcium of rice. Ragi mudde — a firm ball of finger-millet dough swallowed rather than chewed with saaru — has powered farm labour across the Karnataka plateau for centuries.
Grown in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra
बाजरा / Kambu / Sajje
The desert's insurance policy — pearl millet survives on 200 mm of rain and delivers eight times the iron of rice. Bajra roti with white butter and jaggery is a Rajasthani winter meal in itself.
Grown in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana
ज्वारी / Cholam / Jonna
Gluten-free and hand-patted into bhakri, jowar is the daily bread of the Deccan. Puffed jowar is India's oldest snack food, older than any commercial cereal.
Grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana
Navane / Kangni / Thinai
Mentioned in Sangam literature as thinai, offered to Lord Murugan. It cooks like rice and slots into upma, pongal or bisi bele bath with no adjustment at all.
Grown in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
Kodra / Varagu / Arikelu
Domesticated in India roughly 3,000 years ago and still central to Bastar's tribal kitchens. Extremely high in antioxidants and one of the most drought-tolerant grains grown anywhere.
Grown in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu
Samai / Kutki / Sama
The fastest-cooking millet and the most iron-dense of the small grains. Widely eaten during fasting periods, where its lightness is the point.
Grown in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu
Sanwa / Kuthiraivali / Jhangora
The highest-fibre grain in the Indian pantry — nearly 14 g per 100 g. Grown at Himalayan altitudes where nothing else ripens in a 45-day window.
Grown in Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu
Rajgira / Ramdana
Ramdana — 'God's own grain'. A complete protein containing lysine, which cereals lack. Puffed and bound with jaggery it becomes the rajgira chikki eaten on fast days.
Grown in Himalayan belt, Maharashtra
Kuttu / Ogal
Not a grass at all. Grown above 2,000 m where wheat fails, and eaten across North India as kuttu ka atta during Navratri fasting.
Grown in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Ladakh
खपली गहू / Samba godhumai
An ancient hulled wheat grown in India for four millennia, largely displaced by high-yield varieties in the 1960s and now returning for its low gluten index and slow digestion.
Grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
शरबती गेहूं
The golden 'sugary' wheat of the Malwa plateau, prized for the softness of its rotis and grown largely without irrigation on retained soil moisture.
Grown in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh
