Foxtail Millet: The Everyday Grain That Does It All
Shree Anna — the grains our kitchens ran on, long before maida.
Day two of our millet range, and today's grain is the quiet all-rounder of the family: foxtail.
Meet foxtail (कंगनी)
Foxtail millet — botanically Setaria italica, known in Hindi as kangni — is one of the oldest cultivated grains on earth, grown across Asia for thousands of years. Among the small millets it's the easy, dependable one: mild, nutty and at home in almost any dish.
Where and how it grows
Foxtail is a short-duration, drought-tolerant crop — it matures quickly and thrives across the arid and semi-arid belts of Asia and Africa on very little water. That speed and hardiness is exactly why farmers have leaned on it for generations when the rains are uncertain.
What's inside (per 100 g of grain)
Foxtail is one of the more protein-rich millets — around 12 g of protein, and a protein notably high in essential amino acids. It carries a good amount of dietary fibre, iron and calcium, has a low glycaemic index, and like all millets is gluten-free as a grain. (These figures describe the grain itself — see the honest note below about our nimki.)
At the Bihari table
Kangni slipped easily into everyday cooking — upma, khichdi, pulao, even kheer. Wherever rice went, foxtail could quietly stand in.
…and now, as nimki
Foxtail Millet Nimki is 75% foxtail (kangni) flour with a little whole-wheat atta (25%) for crunch — no maida, no palm oil, no MSG — fried fresh in small batches and seasoned your way: jeera, ajwain, sesame or black pepper, in 400 g or 800 g, from ₹449. Foxtail is one of our everyday-priced millets — the easy one to keep stocked. An honest note: it's still a fried namkeen, and the atta means it contains wheat — but it's a far better everyday treat than a packet of chips.
Day two of our Shree Anna millet range. Yesterday, kodo. Tomorrow, barnyard — the light, high-fibre grain.
Ghar ka swaad, ab Shree Anna ke saath.