Kodo Millet: The Grain Our Grandmothers Never Forgot
Shree Anna — the grains our kitchens ran on, long before maida.
We're opening our millet range with a proper introduction to each grain — where it comes from, how it grows, and why it earns a place in your bowl. First up: kodo.
Meet kodo (कोदो)
Kodo millet — botanically Paspalum scrobiculatum — is one of India's oldest cultivated grains, a small, hardy millet that Bihari and Deccan kitchens have cooked with for centuries. It's a classic Shree Anna grain: humble, resilient and quietly nourishing. Today it's also one of the rarer millets on the market, which is part of what makes it special.
Where and how it grows
Kodo is a rain-fed, deeply drought-tolerant crop. It thrives on poor soils with very little water, from the Deccan plateau up to the foothills of the Himalayas — which is exactly why it carried families through lean seasons when thirstier crops failed. It asks for almost no irrigation and few inputs, making it one of the most climate-friendly grains we grow.
What's inside (per 100 g of grain)
Kodo is prized for its fibre and minerals: roughly 8 g of protein, a generous amount of dietary fibre, and notably high iron (around 9–10 mg) along with calcium. Like most millets it has a lower glycaemic index than refined grains, is naturally gluten-free as a grain, and carries antioxidants (polyphenols) you'll never find in maida. (These figures describe the grain itself — see the honest note below about our nimki.)
At the Bihari table
Traditionally, kodo was eaten much like rice — a base for khichdi, pulao and porridge, or ground into flour for rotis. Simple, filling, everyday food.
…and now, as nimki
We've turned it into the snack Bihar loves best. Kodo Millet Nimki is 75% kodo millet 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. 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, and it tastes like home.
This is day one of our Shree Anna millet range. Tomorrow: foxtail, the everyday all-rounder.
Ghar ka swaad, ab Shree Anna ke saath.