A handy guide on incorporating the many new flour options in your diet, keeping your bio-individuality in mind
In an age where a host of newfangled ingredients claim to offer health benefits aplenty, choosing the right ones to incorporate in your diet can be overwhelming. With social media making information easily available, more and more people have begun to adopt a health-conscious lifestyle. Enter alternate flours—those ground from a fruit, a vegetable, a pulse or a grain. Used for preparing basic rotis and chillas to pancakes, cookies, cakes and crackers, these alternate options are driving the gut conversation in a new direction.
In the past decade, there has been a palpable shift in the consumption of the kinds of flours—from wheat and all-purpose flour to ragi, millet, amaranth and jowar being added to modern-day diets. Now the focus on flours has shifted gears further with almond, quinoa, brown rice, soya, coconut, chickpea and jackfruit flours gradually gaining traction.
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"Banana flour is used extensively in south India but there is little awareness [about it] in the rest of the country," says Anuja Jadhav
Luke Coutinho explains that generally, one-two palm-sized rotis in a meal should be good
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According to Dharmishtha Goenka, alternate flours are always gluten-free, low on carbs, high on fibre
Options galore
Several niche, homegrown brands in India have created networks to make flours available across the country through online platforms. Take the example of Kokos Natural, an online store for organic food products. In 2017, while on a trip to Coimbatore, founder Anuja Jadhav came across a farm owned by a family of 12. “We were visiting [to source] coconut sugar, and I happened to use the washroom at a farmer’s house. On the way, I saw a backyard full of banana trees. Banana flour is used extensively in south India but there is little awareness [about it] in the rest of the country. We helped them set up a small unit, where they cut and dried the bananas in the sun and hand-milled them. It is the best way to retain the nutrition,” says Jadhav, who, today, stocks banana, cassava, coconut and quinoa flours.
In 2013, Kochi-based James Joseph launched Jackfruit 365—green jackfruit packaged in a freeze-dried form—in a bid to promote the seasonal fruit throughout the year. He went on to launch jackfruit flour the same year. “The suggested way to incorporate it in your meals is to add a spoonful per person, per meal in chapatis and batters for chillas, idlis and dosas,” he explains. According to a study conducted at the Government Medical College in Andhra Pradesh in June 2021—published in Nature Group’s peer-reviewed journal Nutrition & Diabetes—replacing a tablespoon of rice or wheat flour in daily meals with green jackfruit flour is significantly effective in lowering the plasma glucose level in patients with type 2 diabetes. “Jackfruit flour has 40 per cent less carbohydrates and glycemic levels as compared to rice and wheat,” says Joseph, who won the National Startup Award—a government initiative to promote a robust start-up ecosystem in India—in 2021 in the food processing category.
“JACKFRUIT FLOUR HAS 40 PER CENT LESS CARBOHYDRATES AND GLYCEMIC LEVELS AS COMPARED TO RICE AND WHEAT.”
James Joseph
Two Brothers Organic Farm, an online store specialising in organic products with a farm in Bhodani village in Maharashtra’s Pune district, makes a gluten-free, high-protein soya bean flour. The soya beans are soaked for around four hours in water and then boiled for 30 minutes. The cooked beans are dried naturally under direct sunlight and milled to make the flour. Soya bean is considered to be a natural reservoir of nutrition, with 40 per cent protein, 20 per cent oil, 22 per cent carbohydrates, five per cent minerals, 3.4 per cent fibre and nine to ten per cent moisture. Additionally, it is loaded with Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. “When soya flour is added to wheat, jowar, rice or bajra flour in a proportion of 10 per cent, it can increase protein absorption by upto 30 per cent. One kilo of soya bean flour can be mixed with nine kilos of wheat or jowar flour to make rotis, chillas, thalipeeth and dosas. A mix of 50 per cent soya flour with 50 per cent of gram flour can be used to make fried snacks such as sev and papads,” says Ajinkya Hegde of Two Brothers.
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The focus on flours has shifted gears further with almond, quinoa, brown rice, soya, coconut, chickpea and jackfruit flours gradually gaining traction
Changing the diet plan
Raveena Taurani, founder and head chef of Yogisattva Café in Bandra, Mumbai, banks on rotis as the easiest way to include a new flour into meals. “Firstly, do you like the taste [of the flour], and secondly, how does your body feel two hours after consuming it? Sometimes the gut takes time to comprehend a new ingredient,” she says. According to Taurani, if you suddenly introduce an ingredient in your diet, one that you did not eat while growing up, your body may refuse to digest it. Any new ingredient should be consumed in small portions for a week, so that you can gauge how your body responds to it.
Mixing too many flours in your diet may not be a good idea either. “Don’t overpopulate your gut with too many grains. The amount of time you will consume to make your roti and other foods also must be taken into consideration. At home, we want to spend the least amount of time preparing a meal,” she explains, adding that when it comes to baking, in almost all recipes, the recommended flour can be replaced with other alternate flours. “The taste here, however, plays a factor.”
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Quinoa flour can be mixed with jowar/ragi/amaranth flour etc. for a protein-rich option
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Bananaflour is rich in resistant starch and hence great for your gut
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Do not mix more than two flours together advises Coutinho.
Luke Coutinho, co-founder of You Care Lifestyle, explains that generally, one-two palm-sized rotis in a meal should be good. However, there is no one-size-fits-all; dietary requirements differ from person to person, depending upon their health goals and lifestyle choices. Jackfruit, almond and banana flours are suitable for baking, while chickpea and quinoa flours make good rotis. “Store these flours in sanitised glass containers. In case of high humidity, it is good to refrigerate them. You can mix banana flour/ jackfruit flour with a cereal-based flour, for instance, a combination of jowar flour and banana flour in a 2:1 ratio. Banana/jackfruit flour is rich in resistant starch and hence great for your gut. Chickpea/quinoa flour can be mixed with jowar/ragi/amaranth flour etc. for a protein-rich option. Do not mix more than two flours together,” advises Coutinho.
Selecting the right flour
The process of selecting alternate flours needs patience. Dharmishtha Goenka, founder of Bengaluru-based Praakritik says, “The texture of the flour may not be as soft as what you and your family is used to, so find interesting recipes to have some fun with these flours.” According to her, alternate flours are always gluten-free, low on carbs, high on fibre and hence tend to suit almost everyone's stomach. “Check if the marketer and manufacturer are the same. Also check for organic certification, especially if the product claims to have one,” she adds.
“FIRSTLY, DO YOU LIKE THE TASTE [OF THE FLOUR], AND SECONDLY, HOW DOES YOUR BODY FEEL TWO HOURS AFTER CONSUMING IT? SOMETIMES, THE GUT TAKES TIME TO COMPREHEND A NEW INGREDIENT.”
Raveena Taurani
Coutinho lists four checkpoints to be mindful of while selecting a flour: list of ingredients (check for any additives/preservatives/hidden sources of added sugars),nutrient composition, date of manufactureand date of expiry. One should also look out for labels such as “organic stone ground flour,” indicating that the flour has a higher nutritional value. Today, given that most brands have a presence on social media, it is easy to have a conversation with the makers. You can also write to them to understand how the flour is made or where the ingredients are sourced from.
Finding your flour type
How do you find out whether the new flour you just introduced into your diet will be in harmony with your digestion? Maintain a journal and document how you feel every couple of hours: —energetic, sluggish and/or bloated? The gut is the best indicator to ascertain whether the flour suits you. “In case you experience symptoms of indigestion such as bloating, acidity or flatulence, it may indicate that the flour is not suiting your gut and your body. One may have to restrict consumption in case of any major signs,” Coutinho warns.
Today, most nutritionists focus on the concept of bio-individuality to determine what foods work for a person. Nutritional requirements vary from person to person. “The generation before ours adopted refined flours, brown rice and pasta. Our current generation is moving away from these, modernising food choices but reviving our roots,” says Taurani. She points out that we have to be open to accepting changes in food consumption patterns over the years. “It’s only natural. We didn’t have avocados earlier and now there is an abundance. This is how food evolves. What’s important here is to maintain a balance,” she says.
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