Flour & Baking Mixes

Aashirvaad Chakki Atta is whole wheat flour ground on a chakki, a stone mill, so the bran and germ stay in the flour instead of being sifted out. It is what a North Indian kitchen means when it says atta, and it makes rotis that stay soft and pliable for hours rather than stiffening as they cool. This is the 10kg sack for a household that makes roti daily.

Best for

• Everyday chapati, roti and phulka
• Paratha, stuffed or plain
• Puri, bhatura and roti dough for the freezer

How to cook it

Work to roughly two parts flour to one part water by volume, adding the water in stages and kneading for five minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. Rest it, covered, for fifteen to twenty minutes; kneading and resting are what make the difference between a soft roti and a leathery one. Roll evenly, cook on a tawa hot enough that the roti starts to blister within seconds, turn it once, then lift it onto an open flame or press it with a cloth to puff.

Pack and storage

10kg sack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening. Keep working quantities in an airtight container and the rest of the sack closed and off the floor.

Aashirvaad Multigrain Wheat Flour is an atta with other grains and pulses milled in alongside the wheat, which gives a roti a denser bite and a nuttier flavour than plain wheat atta. The dough also behaves differently: it drinks more water, it is less stretchy, and it repays a longer rest before you start rolling.

Best for

• Everyday chapati and phulka
• Paratha, plain or stuffed
• Thepla and puri

How to cook it

Add the water gradually, as this flour takes noticeably more than plain wheat atta, and knead to a soft dough that does not stick to the fingers. Cover it and rest it for at least twenty minutes so the bran softens, or the rotis will come out tough. Roll a little thicker than a plain chapati, since rolled thin this dough tears. Cook on a hot tawa until the surface bubbles, turn once, and press gently with a folded cloth to make it puff.

Pack and storage

5kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, and keep it in an airtight container away from damp.

Aashirvaad Whole Wheat Flour is atta with the bran and germ left in, the everyday flour for Indian flatbreads rather than for cakes or pastry. It absorbs more water than a white flour and produces a soft dough that rolls thin without tearing, which is what gives a roti the pliability to be folded around a curry. This is the 5kg pack.

Best for

• Chapati, roti and phulka
• Paratha and thepla
• Puri and dough for rolls and wraps

How to cook it

Use about two parts flour to one part water by volume, adding the water gradually rather than all at once, and knead for a good five minutes until the dough is smooth and springs back when pressed. Cover and rest for fifteen to twenty minutes before rolling. Cook on a tawa that is properly hot, turn once when the surface bubbles, and finish over a flame or under gentle pressure from a cloth so the roti puffs and the steam inside keeps it soft.

Pack and storage

5kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, and keep it airtight; atta picks up damp and odours quickly.

TRS Semolina Coarse is durum wheat milled to a coarse grain — the bava or rava grade, noticeably gritty between the fingers. The coarse cut is what gives upma and rava dosa their texture; fine semolina in the same dish turns pasty.

Best for

• Upma and rava khichdi
• Rava dosa and rava idli
• Sooji halwa, and coating for fried fish

How to cook it

Dry-roast the semolina in a pan over medium heat for four or five minutes until it smells nutty and no longer looks chalky — skip this and the upma will be raw-tasting and lumpy. Use roughly 2.5 parts water to 1 part semolina for upma, poured in hot and stirred hard as it goes. For halwa, roast in ghee instead of dry.

Pack and storage

500 g. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Ragi flour is stone-ground finger millet — an earthy wholegrain flour with a deep reddish-brown colour and a nutty flavour.

Best for

• Ragi mudde and ragi ball, the Karnataka staple
• Ragi roti and ragi dosa
• Ragi malt and porridge
• Blending into chapati atta for a wholegrain lift

Working with it

Ragi has no gluten, so on its own it will not hold together like wheat dough. For rotis, either mix with hot water and knead while warm, or combine with wheat atta. For porridge, roast the flour briefly first — it deepens the flavour and stops lumps forming.

Pack and storage

1 kg. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Schani Black Salt Powder (Kala Namak) has a distinctive sulphurous flavour widely used in Indian chaat masala, chutneys, and refreshing drinks like jal jeera.

TRS Semolina Fine is durum wheat milled to a fine grain — smoother and more powdery than the coarse rava, closer in feel to flour. The fine cut absorbs liquid quickly and sets soft, which is what a smooth halwa or a batter needs.

Best for

• Sooji halwa and sheera
• Rava idli, and soft idli and dosa batters
• Sooji ka cheela, and light baking

How to cook it

Roast it in ghee over low heat for five to seven minutes until it turns a shade darker and smells nutty — fine semolina catches faster than coarse, so keep it moving. For halwa, use roughly 1 part semolina to 3 parts hot liquid, added slowly and stirred hard to stop lumps. Do not substitute it for coarse rava in upma; it goes sticky.

Pack and storage

500 g. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Annam Idly Rawa is rice broken into coarse granules, made so you can build idli batter without grinding rice at all. You grind only the urad and stir the rawa in, which is why it is the shortcut most households in a hurry rely on.

Best for

• Quick idli batter, paired with ground urad
• Uttapam and thick set dosa
• Rava idli and steamed tiffin dishes

How to cook it

Soak the idly rawa in water for about thirty minutes, then squeeze out the excess by hand. Grind soaked whole urad separately until light and fluffy, and fold the squeezed rawa into it at roughly two parts rawa to one part urad. Add salt and ferment eight to twelve hours in a warm place until risen, then spoon gently into greased moulds and steam twelve minutes.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

TRS Semolina Coarse is durum wheat milled to a coarse, gritty grain — the rava used for upma and rava dosa, where the texture of the grain is the point. This is the larger 1.5 kg pack.

Best for

• Upma and rava khichdi
• Rava dosa and rava idli
• Sooji halwa, and a crisp coating for fried fish

How to cook it

Dry-roast for four or five minutes over medium heat until it smells nutty and loses its chalky look — without that step upma tastes raw and goes lumpy. Use about 2.5 parts hot water to 1 part semolina for upma, poured in fast and stirred hard. With a pack this size, roast a batch at a time and keep it in a jar ready to use.

Pack and storage

1.5 kg. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Rosenmehl Weizenmehl Type 405 is the standard German fine white wheat flour — the lowest-ash, most finely milled grade, and the one most German baking recipes mean when they simply say Mehl.

Type 405 is the flour for cakes, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, Spätzle, batters and sauces, and it is what gives a Kuchen its soft, even crumb. It also works well for Indian cooking that calls for maida — naan, bhatura, samosa pastry, cake rusk and Indo-Chinese batters.

Sift before use for the lightest results. Store in a sealed container in a cool, dry place away from strong smells, and keep it off damp surfaces so the flour does not clump.

Diamant Roggenmehl Type 1150 is a medium-dark German rye flour, milled to the grade most German rye and mixed-grain breads are built on.

Type 1150 keeps more of the grain than a pale flour, which is what gives rye bread its darker crumb and its distinctive, slightly tangy, earthy taste. It is the usual choice for Roggenmischbrot, Bauernbrot and sourdough starters, and it is normally blended with wheat flour, since rye on its own gives a dense loaf.

Rye dough is stickier and less elastic than wheat dough — expect to work it with wet hands or a scraper rather than heavy kneading. Store the 1kg pack sealed, cool and dry.

Wheat Flour Type 405 1kg

Wholemeal Spelt Flour 1kg

Wheat Flour Type 550 1kg

Bauckhof Organic Corn Flour 500g

Ja! Breadcrumbs 1kg

Durum Wheat Semolina 500g

Rosenmehl - Weizenmehl 550

Diamant - Wheat Flour Type 550

TRS Gram Flour is besan — flour milled from split brown chickpeas, pale yellow and finer than it looks, with a distinctly savoury, slightly bitter taste when raw that cooks out completely. It is naturally gluten-free.

Best for

• Pakora, bhajia and onion fritters
• Kadhi, besan chilla and dhokla
• Mysore pak, besan laddu, and thickening gravies

How to cook it

Besan lumps easily, so whisk it into water a little at a time rather than tipping the water in. For pakora batter aim for the thickness of double cream and let it rest ten minutes. For kadhi, mix the besan into the yoghurt cold and bring it up slowly, stirring, or it will split. Batters and gravies both need a good ten minutes of cooking to lose the raw taste.

Pack and storage

1 kg. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Aachi Ragi Flour Roasted is finger millet ground to a fine flour and roasted, so the raw, slightly bitter edge of plain ragi flour is already cooked out. It is dark brown, closer to a wholemeal flour in weight, and being pure millet it is naturally gluten-free.

Best for

• Ragi mudde and ragi sangati
• Ragi roti and dosa
• Ragi malt and porridge

How to cook it

For porridge or malt, mix the flour with a little cold water first to a smooth slurry, then pour it into simmering water or milk while stirring; adding flour straight to hot liquid guarantees lumps. For mudde, boil water with a pinch of salt, add the flour in one go, and work it against the sides of the pot with a wooden stick until it comes together as a smooth ball. For roti, make a stiff dough with hot water and pat it out by hand rather than rolling, as ragi dough has no gluten to hold it together.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Udhaiyam Maida is refined wheat flour, milled fine and with the bran removed, so it is soft, white and low in the coarse particles that give atta its character. It makes the stretchy, soft dough that Indian fried breads and restaurant-style breads need, and it behaves like a plain all-purpose flour in baking.

Best for

• Bhatura, naan and poori
• Samosa and kachori pastry
• Cakes, biscuits and general baking

How to cook it

Maida takes less water than atta, so add it gradually. For bhatura or naan, make a soft dough with curd and a raising agent and rest it somewhere warm for two hours before shaping. For samosa pastry, work oil or ghee into the flour first until it holds its shape when pressed, then bring it together with cold water into a stiff dough and rest it thirty minutes, which is what gives a crisp, blistered shell rather than a soft one.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Priya Idli Rava is coarsely ground rice, the granular rice rava used with urad dal to make idli batter without grinding whole rice from scratch. It gives idlis a slightly grainier, more open texture than a batter ground entirely from soaked rice, and being pure rice it is naturally gluten-free.

Best for

• Idli batter made with urad dal
• Soft steamed idlis for breakfast
• Steamed rice cakes and rice-and-dal batters generally

How to cook it

Soak urad dal with a little fenugreek for four hours and grind it to a light, fluffy paste. Separately soak the rava in water for about twenty minutes, then squeeze out the excess water and fold it into the ground dal, roughly two parts rava to one part dal by volume. Add salt, cover, and leave it somewhere warm for eight to twelve hours until the batter has risen. Pour into greased idli plates and steam for ten to twelve minutes.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Telugu Foods Wheat Rava Coarse is broken wheat at a coarse grind, closer to cracked grain than to fine semolina, and it keeps the bran. It cooks to a firmer, chewier result than Bombay rava and takes longer to soften, which is why it suits savoury pots and breakfast porridges rather than delicate rava dosa.

Best for

• Godhuma upma and savoury broken-wheat dishes
• Wheat rava pongal and khichdi with moong dal
• Sweet or savoury breakfast porridge

How to cook it

Rinse once and drain. In a pressure cooker, use one part rava to three parts water and cook for two or three whistles, then let the pressure drop on its own. In an open pot it needs closer to four parts water and fifteen to twenty minutes of simmering, topped up as it thickens. Temper mustard seeds, chana dal, green chilli and curry leaves in oil first and add the drained rava to that, so the grains take on the flavour as they swell.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.