Bajra: The Winter Grain That Keeps You Going
Shree Anna — the grains our kitchens ran on, long before maida.
Day six — the last grain, and the one that completes our millet range: bajra.
Meet bajra (बाजरा)
Bajra — pearl millet, botanically Pennisetum glaucum — is the warming workhorse of the Shree Anna family. Known as kambu in Tamil and sajje in Kannada, it's the hearty grain behind winter bajra roti and khichdi: earthy, filling and full of backbone.
Where and how it grows
Bajra is extraordinarily heat-tolerant and drought-resistant — it yields a harvest where most crops would simply fail. Rajasthan and Gujarat lead its cultivation, with large areas in Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, almost all in hot, dry country. If any grain defines resilience, it's this one.
What's inside (per 100 g of grain)
Bajra is a mineral powerhouse: around 11 g of protein, a strong dose of iron (~8 mg) and notably high magnesium (~114 mg), plus zinc and folate. Its higher energy density is exactly why it's prized as a warming winter grain. Like all millets, it's gluten-free as a grain. (These figures describe the grain itself — see the honest note below about our nimki.)
At the Bihari table
Bajra roti with a knob of ghee and gud on a cold evening, bajra khichdi, even bajra raab — this is the taste of winter across much of north and west India.
…and now, as nimki
Bajra Millet Nimki is 75% bajra (pearl millet) flour with a little whole-wheat atta (25%) for crunch — no maida, no palm oil, no MSG — fried fresh and seasoned your way: jeera, ajwain, sesame or black pepper, in 400 g or 800 g, from ₹449. Deep, nutty and satisfying — a big-flavour crunch to finish on. An honest note: it's still a fried namkeen, and the atta means it contains wheat.
Six grains, one Bihari kitchen
That completes our Shree Anna millet range — kodo, foxtail, barnyard, browntop, jowar and bajra. Six heritage grains, each nearly forgotten, each back on the table as the snack Bihar loves best. Thank you for coming along, one millet at a time.
Ghar ka swaad, ab Shree Anna ke saath.