Bengaluru: A bout of fever means dollops of comfort food. Amandeep Chugh, however, doesn't reach for packets of Maggi or soft parathas that remind him of his childhood in Chandigarh. The whole of last week, he battled a viral infection with time away from work and some hot jowar oothappams, brown rice and vegetables.

"I never heard about millets before I came to Bengaluru as we never had it at home," says the 28-year-old software engineer. He dropped into a neighbourhood millet café in JP Nagar and was hooked to the hearty fare. "I feel lighter and fresher after a meal," says Chugh, who came to the city a little over a year ago.

Well-packaged millets have been in city stores for years but the hardy grain seem to be finding more health-conscious patrons, and the proof of the pongal seems to be in the eating. Sustainability activists and farmers' collectives have realized that more people will consume millets if they are turned into tasty pulavs, rotis and payasas, and are showing people how to cook daily fare using the grain.

A few activists have turned into intrepid entrepreneurs to set up cafes and catering units. "I started a café after realizing that no amount of talking would convince people," says Jyothi Madinur, founder of Vaathsalya Millet Café, one of the first such outlets in the city. It is the same reason that prompted Arun Kaulige of Kaulige Foods to branch into millet-based catering apart from distribution. After catering for individuals and corporates and organizing regular Sunday cookouts to show how the grains can be turned into mixed rices and dosas, he is readying to open a café.

RISE IN DEMAND

Over the years, the demand for millets has grown as more people started looking for healthy and desi alternatives to rice and wheat. Sahaja Organics, a company set up by organic farmers' collective Sahaja Samrudha, has 350 stores in south India. The maximum demand is from Bengaluru and Chennai, says CEO Somesh Basavanna.

"Last year, we sold one tonne each of the seven millet varieties in a month. This year, it has gone up to two tonnes per variety," says Basavanna. He says demand will go up further due to rising health concerns.

Kaulige says people prefer kodo and proso millets that are rich in fibre and vitamins. Apart from local entrepreneurs, several big brands are also in the fray. However, the figure is paltry when compared to rice and wheat sales. "Millets are not even 0.5% of the amount of rice being sold every month," says Basavanna.

RACE TO THE TOP

It isn't easy to change dietary habits even in a city like Bengaluru, called the 'organic capital' of India due to the sheer number of organic outlets. A 2006 study about consumer perception shows that people would start with organic vegetables and fruits, followed by milk and rice, says Manoj Kumar Menon, executive director, International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture.

What is really making the difference is the price. In the aftermath of the Green Revolution of the 1960s, high-yielding varieties of wheat, rice and maize covered swathes of the country in a bid to ensure food security. Incentives and cheaper prices meant that both cultivators and consumers shifted to the grains popularised by the government. "There is a millet belt in Mysuru that was killed by maize," says G Krishna Prasad, director of Sahaja Samrudha, which has been trying to revive traditional crops. Ragi is an exception as it is a staple of south Karnataka.

LOST HERITAGE

What got lost was traditional knowledge of sustainable, local crops that could give American oats and Mexican chia a run for its money in the nutrition department. Prasad says two major (bigger grains of bajra and jowar) and seven minor millets (ragi, foxtail and others) have been cultivated in rain-fed conditions for centuries.

"They are hardy and need little water, and are found from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, parts of Odisha and the hills of Tamil Nadu to the Himalayan foothills," Prasad says.

No climate change is going to stop stout brown topped millets from thriving in the shade of tamarind trees or kodo to grow in rocky land in Karnataka. "These practices are environmentally sustainable too," says Prasad.

However, with neglect by government and academics, cultivation dwindled. Fifteen years ago, a group of organic farmers came together to address this knowledge gap. As the movement grew, they hit the same wall: how to get people to start eating millets again? The first millet mela was held in 2011 by the group in association with Dharwad Agricultural University in Bengaluru.

MOVE TO MILLET

A series of melas followed and other organic groups too organised similar events. Now, millets have come to the mainstream. "For one, the nutritional value of the grains are prompting the health conscious to switch, especially those with gluten allergies," says Menon. Then, there are those who are moving away from refined foods.

Bengaluru, with its highly educated and mixed population, has been experimenting with grains. "Tamilians know barnyard millet as 'kuthiravaali' while it is 'jhangora' to those from Garhwal and other regions," says Prasad. Add to this mix a higher incidence of diabetes, and many are ready to replace rice at least once a day. "People eat dahlia or broken wheat due to lack of choice. Many are happy to use navane and koralu that were eaten by their grandparents," he adds.

But to beat the price advantage, the government should set up community processing units so growers needn't send grains to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Also, a push to popularise millets as in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh would help, says Prasad.

Meanwhile, Kaulige and others are planning to make cookies and cakes out of millets so that people will find the old grains appetising. A move that makes sense as many of Chugh's friends still find the café food costly or not 'spicy' enough.

He isn't sure how long the place will be around without adequate marketing push. The backup plan is cooking classes. "I can't completely switch to millets but if I know how to cook I could have a light dinner," says Chugh.



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