Flours are very commonly used in our kitchen in our day-to-day cooking, whether for making rotis, pakodas, or thickening kadhis. It is indeed a very versatile ingredient, which one cannot do without.

More so, nowadays, due to long working hours and oodles of stress, it has become extremely important for people to take care of their daily diet and include foods which are not only tasty and easy-to-cook but also nutritious. In such a context, I think flours can indeed serve as the magic ingredient that patches up gaps in one’s nutritional requirements since they are rich in nutrients like proteins, iron, zinc etc.

However, there are many of us who don’t go beyond the basic flours like wheat, jowar and bajra. In fact, many wouldn’t even know the difference between chola dal ka atta and nachni atta. That is what led me to wonder whether people actually know that these attas are available in the market! Some such as jowar, bajra and maida are readily available while some like urad and matki flour need to be prepared.

In this book, Know Your Flours, I have attempted to share with you the facts about various flours and their goodness, while also presenting recipes usng them. In these recipes, I have tried to utilise different forms of cooking such as steaming, baking, deep-frying, braising etc to demonstrate the versatility of flours!

I am sure you will not only enjoy the delectability but also appreciate the goodness of each of these flours as you devour the recipes, that range from Instant Jalebis and Ami Kozhakattai to Sweet Corn Rotis and Soya Nankhatai etc! Bon Appetit!