Millets were once a mainstay of Indian culinary culture — they’ve been mentioned in mythology, folklore, and historical texts. But, over time, they were sidelined and lost prominence on the Indian plate. A fundamental change in the perception of millets has occurred in the last five years. The Godrej Food Trends Report first observed conversations around millets growing in 2018 when it forecasted that “Indigenous Indian millets are all set to be the ‘hottest’ ingredient on menus across all restaurant
formats”.
Millet is the Future Super Food for India. India is the global leader in millet production with a market share of around 15% of the world’s total production. 2023 has been declared The International Year of Millets by the United Nations (UN) as part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Zero Hunger, Good Health, and Well-being.
Conversations around the role of millets in the Indian diet became trendy a few years ago, largely thanks to regional cuisines. A slow but persistent call to
bring millets back onto the Indian plate was added to them. But conversations were still limited to specific dishes – like the Ragi Mudde (finger millet balls) of Karnataka, Jowar rotis (sorghum flatbreads) of North Karnataka, Jhangora Kheer (barnyard millet milk pudding) of Uttarakhand, and more.
